


Miraculous : Tales of MisterBug & Lady Noire

by QueenPlatypus



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Powers, F/F, F/M, Ladynoire, M/M, MisterBug, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2020-11-28 18:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20971442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenPlatypus/pseuds/QueenPlatypus
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste were both chosen at age 13 to become the new holders of the ladybug and the black cat miraculous in order to keep Paris safe from Hawk Moth. However, due to a mix-up, Marinette ended up having the black cat ring instead of the ladybug earrings while Adrien got them instead of the ring.An AU exploring what would happen if the roles of MisterBug and Lady Noire were permanent.





	1. Origins Part 1: MisterBug and Lady Noire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! This is simply a fun idea to write about the possibility of a mix-up during the original delivery of the miraculouses to Adrien and Marinette. For this, I will base the story on the show, but there will be a few differences as I'll also try to create my own villains. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> Before I forgot: please take in mind the fact that English isn't my primary language and that I actually watch the show in its original dub (the french one), so if there are differences in wording, pay it no mind!

“Marinette, wake up! It’s been half an hour since your alarm first rang!”

“I’m coming…”

Marinette stretched before coming down of her bed, pouting. Today was the first day back to school. And she was not looking forward to it. She went down to the kitchen and sit down behind the counter. She started to prepare her breakfast: cereal with cocoa powder. 

“So, are you excited to begin this new school year?” Asked Sabine, her mother.

“I’m sure Chloé will be in my class again.”

“Four years in a row? It’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Nothing’s impossible with the lack of luck that I haa-”

CLANG! Because of a wrong move, she accidently knocked out an orange which rolled and knocked a wood spoon her mother just left there seconds prior. The spoon then knocked a yogurt pot that fell on the floor with a “splat” noise. She sighed.

“I’m such a klutz…”

Her mother came to her and kissed her on the forehead.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself sweetie, I’m sure everything will turn out just fine. It always does.”

Marinette smiled.

“Now, hurry up and eat. School is starting in half an hour!”

After eating her breakfast and getting dressed up, she went down to the bakery for a quick stop. Her father handed her a box full of freshly-baked macarons to share with her classmates. Managing to not drop the box, she exited the bakery just in time to see an old man walking with a cane crossing the street. However, the crossing light became red and a car was coming towards him. It was coming  _ fast.  _

“Oh, shoot!”

Marinette ran, barely taking care of her macaron box and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the safety. She stumbled and ended up on the ground, the content of the box spilled all over her. She sighed.

“Thank you, young lady. That was really kind of… Oh no, your macarons!”

She smiled and got up.

“No worries sir, I’m glad I could-”

The bell rang.

“Woops, no time to chat! Uh, have a good day, sir!”

Closing the box and sliding it under her arm, she ran towards her school. While doing so, the old man still looked at her.

“What an interesting girl. Hum.”

***

He was breathing heavily, trying to get there in time. Just as he spotted the school’s entrance and picked up the speed, a car arrived and stopped. A woman got out of it.

“Adrien, please! Your father doesn’t approve of that!”

“But, what about what  _ I  _ want?”

A cough interrupted him in his thoughts as he turned his head to see an old man on the ground, shakily holding his hand to grab his cane. He looked miserable, in pain. The man needed help. Without having a second thought, he ran to him, gave him his cane and helped him get back up. 

“Thank you, young man.”

Adrien simply smiled brightly at him before nodding. Then, his head turned as he saw his father’s assistant, Nathalie, and his bodyguard blocking the school’s entrance. He sighed.

“It was my pleasure, sir. Have a nice day.”

The he walked to the people blocking his way.

“Please… Don’t say anything to Father.” He whispered before following them to the car. 

While it went away, the old man stared at the car.

“He would be a good match.”

***

Marinette entered her classroom to see some of her classmates. She knew some of them, as she was in the same class as them the previous school year: Kim and Max, Rose and Juleka and even Nathaniel was there. She smiled and nodded at them to greet them.

“Nino, why don’t you come and sit at the front this year, hum?” Asked Miss Bustier, her teacher.

The boy sighed, picking up his bag and dragging his feet before sitting where Miss Bustier asked. Marinette paid no mind, but as she was about to sit in her usual spot, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Nope, this is  _ my  _ seat, Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette internally cringed. There it was: fourth year in a row with Chloé Bourgeois as a classmate.  _ Great. Absolutely great.  _

“But Chloé, I’m always sitting here…”   
  
“Not anymore! Because you see, I’ll be sitting here so Adrien can sit just here, in front of me!”

“Adrien? Who is that?”

Chloé and her “minion”, Sabrina, mocked her.

“Can you believe that she doesn’t know who Adrien is? This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! Anyway, you can simply take my previous seat, there, problem solved!”

“And who named  _ you  _ the queen of sitting, huh?”

Marinette, Chloé and Sabrina turned their heads towards a girl. She had a darker skin tone and her hair contained orange tips. She wore glasses. Clearly a new student, Marinette never saw her before. 

“What? You have a problem with that? You think you’re some sort of hero or something? Come on, that’s cute.” 

“Oh, I’ll show you what’s cute al-”

Marinette cut her off by dragging her to Chloé’s previous seat. The girls seated.

“Hey, I appreciate you standing up to Chloé for me, but it is going to take you nowhere. We better just do what she wants so she leaves us alone.” 

“You can't possibly think that way! The only reason evil persists is because of inaction of the good guys!”

“That’s a nice way of thinking. You came up with it?”   
“Me? Oh, I wish! No, it comes from Majestia! Just the best superhero ever!”

“But I’m no superhero…”

“Maybe not, but listen up. Evil is this girl. And we’re the good guys. So we have to do whatever it takes to make the world a better place starting with this one. Besides, you need to learn to believe in your capacities…”

The girl was clearly searching for her name. Marinette smiled, opened the box that contained a single macaron and splitted it in two before handing a half to the new girl. 

“Marinette.”

The girl smiled before picking up the half.

“Alya.”

They mimicked a toast before eating their pieces. Chatting a bit before class started then stayed silent as Miss Bustier introduced herself to everyone.

“Now, those who have sport go..”   
  
“Kim! Come here you-”

“Hey, that’s enough! Go to the principal’s office right away!” Said Miss Bustier. 

Ivan, a tall guy that Marinette didn’t know really well, groaned, his hands in fists. Then, he past Kim, throwing him a nasty look before heading off. After this disturbance, the class returned to their normal activities. But soon enough, it was cut off as a… A stone monster? What? How was that possible? Marinette froze up.

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim!” He screeched. 

“Everyone, get to safety! NOW!” 

The class evacuated.

“Oh, this is nice! If there is a super villain, it means super heroes will be coming out soon! I have to report this! Gotta go, bye!” Said Alya before heading off. 

Marinette, still stunned, simply grabbed her stuff and headed home. 

***

“What the?”   


Adrien was supposed to practice his piano lessons, but because his plan to go to a real school lamentably failed, he wasn’t in the mood to do anything. Besides, after his father screamed at him and expressed his disappointment… No, Adrien didn’t want to think of that. So he simply synched his phone to his speaker and chose a playlist so it would seem he was the one playing when he wasn’t. For a few hours, he was simply watching TV. But the show he was on just cut off by a special report by the famous Nadja Chamack. 

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Nadja Chamack here with capital news as a stone monster is wandering in the streets of Paris attacking civilians! Until further notice, the army ask every Parisian to get cover and not come out until the situation gets back under control. Now, Clara Contard is flying over the scene…”

“Great, what a first day… Huh?”

His attention shifted as he noticed something that didn’t belong here. A little black box with red on it. It looked like a foreign symbol. His brows furrowed. He had never seen this thing in his whole life. It clearly wasn’t there when he snuck out of his room to go to school, this morning. 

“What is  _ this  _ doing here?”

Curious, he picked the box and closely looked at it.

“It couldn’t be from my father, could it? No, that’s impossible. He’s not even giving me gifts when it’s my birthday…”

Even more intrigued at this thought, he opened the box. A pink bright light blinded him and he cringed before covering his eyes. He forced himself to look to finally see a little red creature appear just in front of him. It had blue eyes and a cute little smile. It also had antennas and black spots.

“Wow, awesome! Just like the genie of the lamp!” Adrien said before trying to touch the creature. 

“Nice try, but it isn’t quite the truth… But that’s weird. I was told I was going to meet a girl… Oh, unless you… Identify as one?”

“What? No. I’m a boy. My name is Adrien. What about you? Also, what are you, exactly?”

“My name is Tikki and I am a kwami. It’s really nice to meet you, but right now, there is no time. We’ve got to hurry. You have to stop Stoneheart.”

“Stoneheart? That’s the name of the monster I saw on TV? But… How am I supposed to…”

“I’ll tell you everything, okay? First, could you pick up the content of the box, please?”

Adrien nodded before he grabbed the box once again. Inside were earrings. Upon seeing them, Tikki started explaining to him what it was and what it meant: the earrings were a magical object called “miraculous”. When someone wore them, it granted them super force, great agility and invulnerability. Those were the miraculous of the ladybug, which granted the power of creation: with it, when he called the formula “Lucky Charm”, an object would appear to help him achieve his goal. With it came an extra ability: when he shouted Miraculous with his name, he could fix anything that was damaged during the battle. 

Tikki also told him about his enemy and the fact that he was actually a victim that was being manipulated.

“So… If I get it correctly, the guy that is the monster isn’t the real bad guy… A butterfly that merged with him is?”

“Not exactly, a regular butterfly couldn’t do that. It’s an evilized butterfly which was granted a power: you can call it an Akuma. To save the victim being manipulated by it, you have to capture it by destroying the thing in which he merged.”

“Okay, good. I can create things and I have to capture an… Hakuma Matata thing. Sure, easy enough. Now, just give me a second so I can put those earrings…”

“Your ears are pierced, right?”

“Yup, I model for my Father’s fashion company. So for some shoots, I have to wear things in my ears. I’m sure me wearing earrings permanently won’t be a problem.”

When the earrings were put, he noticed how their color changed: turning white and being flat. 

“Awesome. Okay, Tikki, spots on!”

“No, wait, I forgot to menti-”

But it was too late for the kwami as she found herself sucked inside the earring. In just a matter of seconds, Adrien found himself completely changed. His hair seemed longer and untamed. He was wearing a red mask with five black spots and his clothes were replaced by a costume: also red and black. The earrings had a different shape too: they were round and reminded him of a ladybug: after all, he did become a ladybug-themed superhero. 

“Okay, so, this is my yo-yo. How do I… Oh, okay, I’ve got the hang of- AH!”

Just as he said that, he hit himself with it. He groaned for a few seconds, the pain fading away quickly.

“Fair enough, I’ll have to learn to work with it. But now, there’s no time for further training! I’ve got a town to save.”

He opened his window and swung the yo-yo. Just like that, Adrien found himself swinging in the street of Paris, searching for Stoneheart.

***

“Oh, I knew it was going to be a lame day! I never should have gotten out of the house!”

Marinette hugged her knees as she was watching the special report hosted by Nadja Chamack about the stone monster that called himself Stoneheart. Marinette was actually shaking. But then, she noticed a girl riding a bike that was following the monster.

“Is that… Alya?”

Her eyes widened.

“She… She can’t be serious! She is putting herself in great danger! What if… Huh?”   


Her eyes darted away from her computer screen as she noticed a little black box put on her desk. 

“What is  _ this  _ doing here?”

Intrigued, she took the box and without further notice, she opened it. Immediately, she was blinded by a green light so bright she had no other choice than cover her eyes. She opened them back again when she heard something  _ yawn.  _ Then, she jumped out of her seat and shrieked. 

“Ah! A giant bug! A… A mouse? A… A GIANT BUG-MOUSE!”

“Uh, I beg to differ! I’m way better than that and…”

“AH! It TALKS!”

Marinette started throwing stuff at the creature that quickly dodged everything.

“Geez, will you just calm down for a second? Haven’t you been told it’s rude to throw stuff at people?” Said the black creature.

With this, Marinette stopped. She still maintained the distance, hugging a notebook against her chest. 

“Sorry… I get jumpy really fast…   
  
“Yeah, I figured. Anyway, I guess you are my holder after all. Plagg, nice to meet you… Do you have any camembert? I’m hungry.”

“Huh… What? Wait… Wait a second. I don’t even know what you are and what you were doing in my room in the first…”

“Oooh, this is shiny! Is it edible?”

“No, wait! Come back here!”

As Plagg flew across the room trying to take a bite at some stuff he thought were comestible, Marinette chased after him. She finally trapped him under an empty glass of water. Plagg sighed.

“Fine, I won’t move anymore.”

“Listen, Plagg. What are you and why are you here?”

“Simple. I’m a kwami and I grant powers. The one you’ll have is the power of destruction, got it?”   


“What?”

Plagg sighed.

“Listen, kiddo…”

“Marinette.”   


“Marinette. You were chosen to become a superhero. You’ll have to help stopping Stoneheart.”

“You mean… The stone creature outside? No WAY! There’s no way in a hundred years that I’m going to do that!”

“Relax! First of all, you won’t be pitched alone. You have a partner. Second, if not you, who will?”

“Well… Alya, why not! She loves superheroes. I’m sure she would be great as one…”

“But she is the one following the monster right now, is she not?”   
“Yes, but…”

“But then nothing. If not you, no one will be able to stop the Akuma. You have to go, Marinette.”

While saying that, he easily got out of the glass and sat on top of it. Marinette stared at him as he started explaining everything she needed to know. He talked to her about the abilities she would have, her power of destruction that was called “Cataclysm”, how she had five minutes left before detransforming as she casted it. He explained to her the Akuma and reminded her she had a partner. 

Now, she was looking at the ring. She slided it on the ring finger on her right hand. She looked at it as it turned in a rose-gold colour. 

“It looks good, right?”

“Yeah… It does… And it’s really comfortable too. I barely feel it.”

“Okay. Now, you’ll just have to say “Claws out” and we’re good to go.”

“Claws out?”

The next instant happened in a flash. She saw Plagg become a black blur rushing in the ring.

“W-Wait. What’s happeni-”

The next moment, she stared at her hands. The ring turned black with a green cat’s paw on it and her arms were covered with black gloves. She headed in front of her mirror and her eyes widened as she saw herself. She had a black mask and her eyes were now completely green. Her hair was a lot longer and tied in a long braid that was trailing behind her. She was in a black suit with a zipped on the collar and noticed that she had heels on the shoes.

“Huh, I look very nice in that! Hey, Plagg, what is this fabric? It is amazing! Wow, I look so… Fearless! I guess being a superhero isn’t that bad after all!”

“Marinette? Are you home?”   
“Oh, shoot, Mom can’t see me like that!”

Quickly, Marinette rushed upstairs so she was on her balcony. She heard her mom closing the trapdoor leading to her room and mentioning calling the school, but Marinette’s attention was no longer on it. She was now looking at the staff that was hanging at her side. 

“Okay… This is my weapon, I guess? Let’s see how I can use it.”

She spun it around, laughing as she succeeded without difficulty to in doing so before she dropped it at her feet.

“Right… Later. Now, let’s see what those buttons can do… Let’s try this WOOOOOOOOOOOAH!”

  
  


***

Adrien laughed as he continued to swing across the streets of Paris. Sure, he was still looking for Stoneheart, but he was also having fun with all this adrenaline rushing through him.

“I really think I’m starting to get how it works! It is…”   
  
“AHHHHHH LOOK OUT!”

He barely had the time to look up that he saw a cat-looking girl falling towards him, her staff in one hand. Reacting quickly, Adrien managed to catch her just in time. 

“Hi, nice of you to drop by. Good thing I caught you, huh?”   
“That wasn’t really what I planned to do… But thank you for that.”

“It’s fine, it’s my first day too. Come on, let’s get steadier.”

He landed them on the ground.

“So, you must be the partner my kwami talked to me about. What’s your name, blondie?” Asked Marinette.

“Well, certainly not what you just called me… I prefer… MisterBug. Yeah, sounds nice. What about-”

An explosion noise made them jump.

“Uh oh.” 

“Yeah, you could say that again. Come on, we have a job to do, Cat-girl.”

Without waiting, he swung his yo-yo and landed on the roof of the building across the street.

“Hey, wait up!” She shouted.

This time, when she pushed the button of the staff, she was steadier as she moved through the city following her partner: MisterBug. They finally spotted Stoneheart as he was headed to the stadium. Marinette’s eyes widened: this is where half of her class had PE! 

“MisterBug, quick! There are civilians there!”

“Yup, on it!”

As Stoneheart landed in the stadium and began chasing after Kim, Marinette threw her staff at the monster’s feet, making sure it would become longer as he stumbled across it. She landed behind him, taking back her staff.

“Woops, totally didn’t mean to do that.” She said, smirking. 

However, her cockiness angered Stoneheart that replied by throwing in her way the goal net. Her eyes widened as she jumped out of the way. However, she heard a yelp and turned her head as she saw Alya, her phone in her hands, frozen at the sight of the net going towards her.

“No!”

Just in time, MisterBug’s yo-yo rolled around Alya’s waist, dragging her away from the impact zone.

“Are you alright, miss?”

“Yes, thank you… But you should worry more about your partner right now.”

“Huh?”

He turned his head to see that Stoneheart had captured his partner inside his hand. She was trying to free herself, but it was no use.

“Wasn’t he smaller just now? Ugh, it doesn’t matter! Focus, MisterBug!”

He swung the yo-yo so the string would catch his legs. Then, he pulled and Stoneheart fell, letting the partner jump away and grab her staff before running to her partner’s side.

“Now, what?” She asked.

“Not sure… Oh my Gosh, what do we do… I don’t…”

“Hey, relax, Bugaboy.”

She put a hand on his shoulder so he would look to her. He saw her smile and his breath was taken away for a few moments. 

“You can do this, okay? Just take a deep breath and concentrate. Together, we will find a way. You saved this girl’s life, you saved me too and together, we can take down this monster and bring back the sweet boy that he contains.”

MisterBug blinked and he felt his face becoming hotter. Wow. She was already trusting him yet she barely knew him. This little speech helped him enough so he nodded, confidence regained.

“Alright, let’s do this. Maybe now is the time to use our powers, don’t you think?”   
“While he’s down, exactly. I’ll go first, if you don’t mind, Cataclysm!”

In a moment, her hand had a dark aura around it.

“Nice. What does it do?”

“Apparently, I can destroy anything I touch. Watch and learn!”

She was about to rush towards the monster when she stopped in her tracks. Once again, he grew even bigger. He let out a scream that propelled the two heroes against the wall. Unfortunately she mistouched the goal net while flying and it was destroyed in a matter of seconds, she sighed.

“Well… That does it.”

“That’s not a problem, right? You can do it again.”

“Have your kwami not told you anything? After you power is used, you have five minutes before you transform back. So no, I can’t do it again.”

“Okay then, I guess it’s my turn to give it a try. Lucky Charm!”

The yo-yo spun in the air and soon enough, an object landed in his hand. 

“A cardboard person? What am I supposed to… Oh. I might have something. Distract him, would ya?” 

“Sure thing. On it.”

While his partner did her best to keep all his attention, he placed the cardboard, making sure the girl printed on it was facing the monster. When his partner got caught in one hand, he whistled. She smirked.

“Well, big guy. What are you waiting for? Looks like you’re not the only one who wants to ask out the girl.”

“No! You’ll NEVER have Mylène!”

The monster closed the distance and caught the cardboard. While doing so, he crushed it, but also let out a purple paper ball. MisterBug ran towards it and crushed it under his foot. While he watched the akuma get out, the de-evilized boy returned to his real form. Before he could hit the ground, she caught him. In the meantime, she heard MisterBug shout “Miraculous MisterBug!” before seeing a lot of ladybugs take flight.

“Are you alright, Ivan?” She asked.

“How do you know me, Miss?”

“Oh, uh… I heard, that’s all.”

MisterBug smiled and walked towards them.

“We did a pretty good job, wouldn’t you think?”

“Yes, we did.”

They fistbumped and shared a laugh. Then, the earrings and the ring beeped, reminding them they had to leave.

“Well, that was fun, but I think we need to go, now.” MisterBug said. 

“Sure, go ahead, I want to make sure he is fine.”

Once again, he stared at her and blinked. Her smile was beautiful but there was also more. She wanted to make sure if he was fine even after being de-evilized. He had to take notes of this, he must act as kindly as she is. 

“Fair enough, see you soon!”

MisterBug ran off and swang his yo-yo to get out of the stadium. Marinette watched him as he left before heading to pick up the piece of paper. She glanced at it and got what the problem was and why MisterBug’s lucky charm worked. She walked towards Ivan that was staring at his feet, uncertain.

“Hey, you should tell this girl how you feel. What’s the worst that could happen?”   
“She could reject me…”

“I’m sure it won’t happen. You really look like you’re an amazing guy, Ivan. I’m sure Mylène knows it.”

She wasn’t sure of what she said, but she did succeed in making him smile. At the moment, that's what matters. 

“Wow, that was amazing! Tell me, what’s your name?”

Her head turned and she noticed Alya, who was filming her with her cellphone.

“Huh… Lady… Noire. Yeah, call me Lady Noire.”

Before Alya had the time to place another question, she pushed a button on her staff and took off, heading back home.

***

“Lady Noire… Her name is Lady Noire…”

Adrien smiled dreamily while he watched the footage filmed by the girl in the stadium over and over again. 

“So I take it you like your partner?” Said Tikki next to him.

“Yeah… Huh, I mean! Not like  _ like  _ her… She’s just… Awesome. The way she was fighting, how confident she was, but mostly how she was able to keep her cool and helped me when I was freaking out… Also how she insisted on staying with the guy just to make sure he was alright…”

“It’s okay, Adrien. No need to continue further. In any way, I am glad you like Lady Noire. Imagine having to fight villains beside a partner you don’t appreciate.”

“Yeah, I guess I see your point… Anyway, this was amazing… Thank you so much for giving me this chance, Tikki.You won’t regret being stuck with me!”

“I know I won’t, Adrien.”

They shared a hug, but were cut when they heard Nadja Chamack’s voice on TV.

“... It seems many people have just turned into stone creatures statues. For now…”

“Wait, what? But Tikki, we defeated Stoneheart! How is this possible?”

“You  _ did  _ capture his Akuma, did you?”

Adrien’s eyes widened.

“Oh no… With all that was going down… It totally slipped my mind. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry…”

“Relax, Adrien. It’s not the end of the world. Mistakes can happen. Lady Noire and you will find a way to fix it, I’m sure of it.”

Adrien sighed, but smiled at the encouraging words of his kwami.

“Yeah… I know we will.”

***

“This is a disaster! A total disaster! I knew I wasn’t good enough!”

“Come on, it’s not  _ that  _ bad…”

“Not that bad? Plagg, because I was so busy joking around, I forgot to remind MisterBug to capture the Akuma! We didn’t caught it and now… All these people... No, I can’t do this.”

She started to slip off the ring.

“Hey, woh! Now wait a second! Are you really just going leave MisterBug alone?”

“No, but he deserves to have a real partner. I’m sorry, I have failed you, Plagg…”

“Marinette, wai-!”

The ring off her finger, Plagg vanished. Marinette sighed and put the ring back into the box before shoving it in her drawer. She sniffled.

“I’m sorry, Plagg…”

***

“So it seems like we have inadvertently switched the miraculouses…” Said an old man.

A turtle kwami was beside him and looked up at his holder.

“Do you want me to make the switch, Master?”

He hesitated, but finally smiled.

“No need, Wayzz. They seem to be doing well, even with different miraculouses than originally planned. I’m sure they will be just fine.”


	2. Origins Part 2 : Stoneheart

Just like he did yesterday, Adrien found himself running again to get in school. This time, he was planning on succeeding: he knew he won’t ever get a third chance. He took a shortcut through the Place des Vosges. This is when Tikki decided to pop out of his bag and fly beside him.

“I find your efforts to achieve your goal absolutely remarquable, Adrien.”

“Thanks, Tikki. I’ve wanted this for so long, there is no way I’m simply going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers.” He said while running.

“Why didn’t you get in school before if you wanted this for a long time?”

“Let’s just say my dad has his reasons, and stubbornness, but it doesn’t matter. I need to focus so I’ll get there before  _ they  _ do.”

“I’ll be cheering for you, I know you can do it!”

“You’re adorable, Tikki.”

Tikki nodded and dove into his bag once again. As Adrien sprinted and finally reached the corner of the building, he also saw what he wanted to avoid: the car. Then, he ran with all his might, even jumping up to three steps at a time just to reach the main entrance.

“Adrien, no, please! Your father will be furious!” Shouted Nathalie in his back.

Adrien turned around.

“Just… Just tell him it was too late! Please!”

Without leaving her any room to respond, he entered inside the school. He took in a deep breath looking at everything. Sure, he came in this place often for his fencing classes with Mr. D’Argencourt, but he never got to see the Collège Françoise-Dupont full with other students going to learn basic subjects such as Math or even Physics. He was so happy to finally be among these people, to finally be just like them. 

***

“There it is! I present to you the BugNoire blog! This will contain all the latest information about Paris’ new superheroes! Look at how many views I got since I posted my first video about them!”

Marinette listened to Alya present her new blog as they entered the school. Alya was showing her everything she put up on it.

“But how are you so sure that they will be good at their job? You saw all these frozen stone monsters…”

“Believe me, I know they will! They can handle this.”

“But what if one of them is not cut out to be a superhero? What if…”

“Oh, I get what’s going on.”

Marinette’s eyes widened.

“You do?”

“Yes. You’re  _ scared.  _ But girl, I was  _ there _ ! I saw them working together to stop Stoneheart, not to mention MisterBug managed to save me seconds before I got crushed. And Lady Noire? She was so supportive and fierce, not having second thoughts about anything because this was what she had to do! Together, they make a great team. They will keep us safe at all cost, I saw it in their eyes. I believe in them, you should give them a chance too!”

Marinette slightly smiled and patted her purse containing the box in which was the ring. Now, she was certain she was doing the right thing: Alya would be a great black cat superhero. With that state of mind, there was absolutely no doubt. 

As they got deeper in the yard, they noticed people surrounding Ivan and asking questions about his state of the day prior. They got closer just in time to hear Chloé’s intervention.

“Well, you know what they say! Once a monster,  _ always  _ a monster!”

As Ivan grunted, stood up and left with his fists closed, Chloé laughed. As she saw Alya stepping up to confront the blonde girl, Marinette chased after Ivan. While she still could, she had to help him calm down.

***

Being so fascinated by his surroundings, it took Adrien a while to snap back to reality. But as he did, he spotted Chloé Bourgeois, his childhood best friend, talking with a girl. This is when he decided to step in: maybe she could even introduce him to all of her friends!

“Hey Chlo’.”

When she heard his voice, Chloé squealed before turning his way and running towards him.

“Adrikins! You  _ came _ !” She said as she gave him two kisses on the cheek.

He chuckled, being a bit shy. Then, as she hung at his arm, he heard the other students talk.

“Wow, it’s Adrien Agreste!”

"He is friends with _Chloé_?"

“Wow, he’s even more handsome in real life!”

She dragged him along her way and, unsure of how to behave around so many people his age, he agreed to sign their pictures. He wasn’t sure to like how they treated him as if he was an important being, but just for today, he let it go: he still had to acclimate to all of this. 

“Sooo, this is our classroom. I saved you a seat just in front of me! Here!”

“Thanks, Chloé. This is very kind of you.”

Adrien slided his bag off his shoulder and put it at his feet as he took the seat. On his left was a boy with glasses. Adrien smiled and extended his hand.

“Hi. I’m Adrien!”

The boy looked him up and rose a brow.

“Let me guess, you’re Chloé’s friend.”

This was the second time Adrien heard someone say that in a cold tone.

“Yes?”

Then, he scoffed while rolling his eyes before going back to his previous occupation. Adrien didn’t understand why the boy reacted this way. As he was turning around to ask Chloé more about it, she saw her laugh before handing Sabrina her chewing gum. He stood up as he saw her stick it on a seat.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Oh, Adrikins. Nothing. Just that this girl spoke to me badly yesterday, so it’s just a little payback from my behalf.”

“Chloé, come on, that’s not cool…”

He passed by the two girls which returned to their seats snickering. He kneeled and tried to take out the gum.

“Hum, excuse me,  _ what  _ are you doing to my seat?”

Adrien jumped as he turned around to see a girl. She had her arms crossed over her chest and looked at him severely with her blue eyes. She had her black hair tied up in pigtails, wore a grey jacket over a t-shirt and wore pink pants.

“Huh… I was just trying to…”

As he rose up trying to complete his sentence, Chloé and Sabrina exploded in laughter. He heard the girl growl and stomp her foot.

“Let me guess. You’re one of Chloé’s friend, aren't you?” She asked, angrily.

She shoved him.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” He whispered. 

He saw the girl try to take the gum, but finally resigned as she covered it with a tissue. Then, she threw him a last dark glare and turned her head away from him. Adrien sighed. Great. Now, he won’t make any friends any time soon… He went back to his seat and sighed once more.

“Dude, why didn’t you tell her it was Chloé?”

Adrien looked up to see the boy next to him staring at him.

“Well… I know what Chloé did was bad… But when I was growing up, she was the only friend I had. So I can’t just… tell on her… You know?”

The boy smiled slightly and held out his hand.

“I’m Nino. I think it’s time for you to have some other friends, buddy.”

Adrien was surprised at first, but smiled brightly before shaking Nino’s hand. Okay, maybe it wasn’t going to be that bad after all.

  
  


***

“Ugh! Who does he think he is exactly! I can’t believe Chloé got another schemer in her team…”

“Well, fits with the character. Don’t you recognize him at all?” Asked Alya on her right.

“Should I?”

“Well… Kind of?”

Alya hold her screen towards Marinette and she gasped.

“Oh course! He’s Gabriel Agreste’s son! My favourite designer! How did I not see that?”

“Dunno… Not like it matters anyway. If he’s just like his dad and hangs out with Chloé, I’m pretty much sure he’ll be as much as a pain in the…”

The bell rang, cutting Alya’s words shut. At the same moment, Mylène rushed inside the classroom, breathing heavily. She apologized to Miss Bustier before heading at her seat. Marinette used this occasion to slip the box with the ring in Alya’s bag. 

“Okay, class let’s start with attendance. Agreste, Adrien?”

There was a silence. Marinette turned her head over to him to witness Nino telling him “you have to say you’re here.”

“HERE!” He said, rising up and shouting. 

The class bursted out in laughter as he quickly sat back down, a blush rising to his cheeks. 

“Bourgeois, Chloé?”

“Here.”

“Bruel, Ivan?”

“HEEEERE.”

As a stone monster destroyed the wall to get in the classroom. Everyone shouted. In a single step, he managed to grab Mylène in his fist.

“Daddy, help, the monster is back!”

“Oh, you’ll get it too, little monster!” 

He extended his hand and caught Chloé. Then, he destroyed the external wall and got out in the street.

“Get cover, kids! Now!”

“I have to catch this for my blog! You’re coming?” Sprung Alya with her phone in hand. 

Marinette looked at her, but shook her head while handing her her bag. 

“I’d much rather stay here and take cover… You go.”

“Okay, whatever you want. See you later!”

“Alya, wait your...”

Alya got out of the class without taking her bag. Because of that, Marinette rushed out of the classroom. She absolutely needed Alya to get her bag. It was urgent.

***

Adrien rushed into the boys’ bathroom and made sure no one was there before he let Tikki fly out of his jacket. He sighed.

“Maybe I’m not meant for public schooling. I mean, I didn’t even get to go further than the attendance list…”

“Well, not with this thinking. But you know, the faster you beat Stoneheart, the faster you’ll get to come back to class and start for real!”

“Hey, you know what? You’re right. Let’s go, we need to fix this mistake once and for all! Tikki, spots on!”

Now fully transformed, he got out of the school through the window. In a hurry, he finally saw Stoneheart. With a flick of his wrist, he managed to hit the monster with his yo-yo. As he landed, he saw that it only provoked two things. One: Stoneheart turned his head towards him. Two: he grew bigger. MisterBug’s eyes widened in realisation. 

“Oh… So  _ that’s  _ why he keeps getting bigger… Woops.”

“Wow, GREAT JOB!” Shouted Chloé in a tone so sarcastic he could feel it in his whole body.

He rolled his eyes, but then jumped out of the way at the last second as Stoneheart tried to crush him under his foot. Then, he tried to fight the monster without hitting him to make him bigger and without hurting the two hostages. But it wasn’t possible. He needed help, he couldn't do this alone.

“Where are you, partner?” He asked while frantically looking behind him to see if she popped up. 

Then, he was surrounded by four other Stonhearts. He grabbed his yo-yo and spun it in front of him to make a shield.

“SEIZE HIM!” Shouted the original Stoneheart. 

As he was turning on his heels, leaving his clones with MisterBug, he looked around him. He saw an orange blur, but paid it no mind as he tried to attack the monsters. But soon enough, he saw one of them throw a car in his way. He jumped out, but as he heard a yelp, he noticed a civilian. Quickly, he throw the yo-yo and managed to catch the exhaust pipe and pulled just enough to keep the girl safe. While it allowed the civilian girl not to get crushed, she was now trapped under the car. In his distraction moment, one Stoneheart caught him and, because of his surprise, he let go of the string of his yo-yo. He tried to get out.

“Let me go! Hey!”

***

Marinette froze up in front of the scene. First, Alya was trapped behind a car with no way to get out. Then, MisterBug was so overwhelmed by everything he wasn’t able to protect himself from being caught by one of the monsters. And at the moment, the only thing she saw from him were his legs shaking, trying to make the monster’s grip loose a bit. 

Marinette felt her heartbeat rising up. She was scared, but now, it was clear: she was the only one that could help fix the situation. She put the bag down, took out the box and opened it before sliding the ring on her finger. In a few seconds, Plagg appeared.

“So, how did your plan work out? Wonderfully well, I take it?”

“I don’t have time for your sarcasm, Plagg! I need to become Lady Noire again.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? You can tell me all about how I was right after we take out Stoneheart.”

“You really are something… Anyway, Plagg, claws out!”

Finally being Lady Noire, her first occupation was to take back MisterBug’s yo-yo. With it in one hand, she used the staff with her other to untrap Alya.

“You shouldn’t put yourself in danger like that. You don’t want to become the stereotypical damsel in distress portrait, right?”

“I guess not… I’ll be more careful next time.”

Lady Noire nodded and ran off to the monster holding MisterBug.

“Oh, my dear lord, catch!”

She threw her staff so it would go inside the monster’s palm. The next moment, she saw MisterBug understood the tactic fully as he used it to free himself. He tossed it back to Lady Noire.

“Thanks for the help, little kitty.”

“No problem. Sorry I was late, I…”

“No need to apologize. What matters is that you’re here now. Come on, we have to put an end to this once and for all.”

“Agreed. Let’s handle Ivan’s case.”

She jumped.

“Wait, Ivan? But what about the others? We need to help them out too!” Said MisterBug, swinging nearby.

“Yes, and that’s exactly why we need to get to Ivan. He is unwillingly the source of all of this. Stop him and the rest will stop.” 

“Okay, I get it. But be careful not to hit him. That’s why he kept getting bigger yesterday. Each impact makes him stronger and taller.”

“Me-wow! Very observative, MisterBug!”

He laughed at her pun, but then, they concentrated to keep on track with Stoneheart. 

***

They finally landed before a police-car barricade. They saw Stoneheart climbing up the Eiffel Tower. The chief of police, Officer Raincomprix, was speaking with André Bourgeois, the mayor but mostly Chloé’s father. 

“I don’t care, Roger. You must bring my daughter back to safety!”

“We’re working on it, mister mayor, we do the best we can!”

“Well, your best clearly isn’t good enough!”

Officer Raincomprix brought the megaphone he was holding to his mouth.

“Listen, we don’t want to hurt you. Just give us back the girls and…”

“You want the girls? Well, here’s one!” Replied Stoneheart.

The next few seconds were in slow-motion as Stoneheart threw, litteraly, Chloé. As she screamed, Lady Noire started to run. She managed to catch Chloé at the last moment before letting her go to hug her dad, tears streaming down her cheeks. MisterBug joined her and mouthed a “thank you.”

With what just happened, the mayor’s voice grew even louder and the police officers were at a loss for words. MisterBug looked over to Lady Noire.

“I’ll handle this. Hey, excuse me, officer? Hi… Huh, it’s really noble of you to try and do your job… But this kind of stuff is out of your reach. MisterBug and I are the only ones who can do it.”

Then, the officer scoffed.

“You are the only ones who can do it? No, thank you! You’ve already done enough! Just look at those stone monsters all over the town! This was your fault and yours only!”

MisterBug heard Lady Noire inhale before she bowed her head. Then, he stepped up.

“May I remind you this was our first day only? If not for Lady Noire, this girl wouldn’t even be here, anymore! We are still learning and yes, we make mistakes, but we will never give up until this madness is over!”

Lady Noire turned her head and looked at him with eyes wide. He could saw a slight blush on her cheeks before she smiled slightly, clearly grateful. This sight was enough to bring a blush on his own cheeks.  _ Gosh, what was the matter with him and blushing around this one girl, lately? _

He was cut in his thoughts by a huge cough. Everyone reported their attention to Stoneheart as he seemed to be choking. Then, a moment later, he released the biggest cough yet and fell on his back as dark butterflies got out of his mouth, forming a head.

“People of Paris, I am Hawk Moth!”

“Hawk Moth?” Asked Lady Noire and MisterBug in synch.

“MisterBug, Lady Noire! Hand over your miraculouses! You’ve done enough harm already, don’t you think it’s time to behave correctly to keep everyone safe? You are a danger to everyone!”

MisterBug blinked. Was this guy serious? As he was about to speak back, Lady Noire started clapping slowly and walked.

“Nice talk, Hawk Moth. But that’s all it is. We both know really well that the only thing behind all of this is you and you only. YOU are the reason all of this is going on and YOU are the dangerous one! So, as I’ll catch your tongue, I’ll let MisterBug show you how in a near future, YOU’ll be the one handing over your miraculous!”

Taking this as his cue, MisterBug started running, spinning his yo-yo and swinging it to get in the air. Then, no one could take their eyes off him as he managed to catch every single akuma in his yo-yo. As he caught the last one, he landed on the tower and turned over to the police barricade and the cameras near by. He spoke up.

“People of Paris. You all heard what Lady Noire just said. I not only agree, I’d like to add something more. On our behalf, I promise all of you that we will do anything in our power to keep you safe and protect you. On this, I promise you we won’t ever let you down.”

With this, he sliced his yo-yo with his index before bringing it over his head and let out a cloud of white butterflies. He looked down and saw Lady Noire throw a cheeky wink in his way before running to join him. As she jumped by his side, Stoneheart regained consciousness and rose up to his feet, still holding Mylène in his hand.

***

“You’ll never have Mylène!”

Then, with one hand, he started to climb higher.

“Help me! I have a fear of heights!” Shouted Mylène.

“Don’t worry, we’re right here! MisterBug, don’t you think it’s time to bring luck on our side?” Asked Lady Noire in a grin.

“On that, you might be right. Lucky Charm!”

As the yo-yo spun in the air, an object finally appeared.

“Is this… Liquid nitrogen?” Asked Lady Noire as she discerned the letter “N” on the contenant.

MisterBug shook it and nodded.

“Yup, you know your period elements very well, my lady! I actually love physics, so I think I know what I can do with it, but I need your help. Can you take me higher?”

“Of course, cats are not afraid of heights in the slightest. Hold on tight!”

She put her arm around his waist and pushed a button on her staff.

“Stop right here! Climb on the tower and get ready to jump if needed.”

MisterBug then opened the contenant and jumped in Stoneheart’s direction. Then, he swayed the liquid at the tower, where Stoneheart was going to put his hand to get even higher.

“Come on, please, work…”

The Nitrogen hit the structure and, as he planned, a layer of ice slowly made its way. No longer having a good grip, Stoneheart’s hand slipped and let go of Mylène so he could keep hanging on. As she was falling at an alarming speed, Lady Noire jumped after her, fixed her staff, jumped again to catch the girl and used the staff to hang on.

“I won’t let you go. Here, climb up.”

Lady Noire helped Mylène get back on the tower.

“Thank you… But please, go help Ivan… I want to get him back as he was! I can’t stand seeing him like this! This isn’t like him at all! Ivan is so sweet… I...”

Mylène stopped and blushed. Lady Noire smiled.

“So… You do have feelings for him as well.”

“Well, yes… And… Oh my gosh, this is all my fault…”

“Hey, no, listen. none of this is your fault, okay? We’ll bring him back to you, I promise. For now, would you be okay with staying here a bit more?”

“I… I should be fine.”

“Good, stay here and hold tight. The ground might get shaky real soon.”

Lady Noire jumped to the ground and saw that Stoneheart was still holding to the tower. But she noticed he still had both of his fists closed: meaning that somehow, he never lost grip of the paper ball.”

“Okay, showtime!”

Lady Noire casted her cataclysm and drew an imaginary line with her hand between two of the tower’s pillars. Soon enough, with the lack of ground, this side of the tower sunk in the ground and this was all it took to make Stoneheart lose his grip once and for all. Letting go of the railing, he also let out the paper ball that MisterBug caught before crushing it into his hands. As he was about to catch the akuma, he noticed Ivan was now falling. But Lady Noire was already on the case, joining him up with her staff and catching him, bringing him back to safety. MisterBug captured the akuma, but as the tower was no longer on safe foundation, he jumped, swinged and took Mylène from her spot, bringing her back on the ground. Only then, he released the butterfly.

“Miraculous MisterBug!”

Upon saying that, loads of ladybugs were now flying everywhere, repairing and fixing everything that needed it. 

“Wow… This is amazing…” Said Lady Noire.

“Yes… I guess you could say it’s miraculous.”

She laughed.

“This was the worst pun ever. Please, leave this to the pros. Me, for instance.”

“If I recall, you didn’t really made any for now.”

“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Soon, you’ll be  _ bug _ ging me to stop.”

He rolled his eyes and held up his fist for her to bump.   
“Pound it.” They said at the same time.

As their bubble was no longer surrounding them, they heard Mylène.

“Ivan… This is… This is beautiful! You wrote that?”

He nodded.

“That’s what I was singing to you, earlier… But I get that you didn’t understand. That’s why you got scared and ran away, right?”   


“I might have… I’m sorry. I promise I’ll listen to everything you want to say for now on. But, please, sing it more slowly.”

“Deal.”

Then, she rushed into him to wrap him in a hug. The blush that appeared on his face was visible for kilometers before he finally returned the hug. Lady Noire swooned.

“Those two are adorable and perfect for each-”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as both miraculouses, hers and his, beeped.

“Well, I guess that’s it. Huh… See you really soon, MisterBug!”

Then, she ran and, with a bow adressed to him, she jumped high in the air using her staff to make herself hover. MisterBug sighed happily.

“I can’t wait, my lady.”

***

The next day, Adrien stepped in front of the school gladly. In an unexpected turn of events, his father… actually changed his mind and agreed to let him go to school? Adrien still couldn’t believe it, but he wouldn’t question it. What mattered is that he finally got to be in school, surrounded by people his age. 

He stepped inside his classroom, beaming and was greeted by Nino. Really quick, he noticed a difference: Chloé and Sabrina were not sitting at their spot from yesterday. Instead, it was this girl, Marinette?, and her friend. Smiling a little, he waved at her, but she turned her head the other way, making it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. With that, he seated down beside Nino. 

“You know, dude… If you really want to make new friends, the first great step is to talk to Marinette.”

“But what would I tell her? She hates my guts…”

“Because of a misunderstanding. Explain it to her. If you get her seal of approval, everything else will work its way.”

Adrien nodded and kept this information in mind. 

***

Rain. 

Why was it pouring rain if there was a bright sun until a few minutes ago? 

Marinette held her hand out, but retreated it as she stood in the entrance. Even if she lived around the corner, she thought that waiting for it to calm down would be a better idea than run and possibly slip: after all, with how clumsy she usually was, it was a possibility. So, she looked down to her feet.

“Hi!”

She looked up to see the new guy, Adrien, standing next to her with an umbrella. She averted her gaze, making it clear she didn’t want to talk with him. She heard him sigh, than the sound of his umbrella opening.

“You know… This is the first time I get to be a part of this. School, public school.”

She looked up to him as he spoke.

“Until now, I was always staying at home, on my own. So… I guess I’m not really good at this social stuff… But I still hope I’ll be able to get out there and… I don’t know… Make some friends?”

He smiled shyly and all she could do was look at him. He seemed so… Sincere. So unsure of himself. She didn’t expect that from an actual model.

“I mean, sure. I have Chloé. I always had Chloé. She’s the oldest friend I got and, until yesterday, she was the only one I had. But that doesn’t mean I approve of everything she does.”

He finally looked up and saw she was staring at him. She started to blush as she finally got a clear look at his eyes. Such a deep green…

“I guess what I’m trying to say is… I really was trying to help out with the gum. I wanted to take it off, but… I was such in a bad position you thought I was putting it. And for that… I’m sorry.”

_ When did breathing became **so** hard? _

With another simple smile, he handed her his umbrella. He waited, like that. Waiting for her to pick it up. She finally rose her hand and, accidentally brushing her fingers against him, finally grabbed the umbrella and put it over her head. But then, as she tightened her grip, she misclicked on the button and closed the umbrella on her head. Adrien burst out in laughter, not being able to help himself. 

Marinette felt a bit shy, but upon seeing him, she started to laugh too. He calmed down.

“Well, I hope we’ll become great friends, Marinette. See you tomorrow.”

With a wave, he started to go down the stairs. With her heart beating fast and her cheeks flushed, she let her back hit the wall.

“Yeah… Seal… See! See you tomoarnow… Tomorrow! Wow, why am I babbling like that?”

“Ooooh, looks like you’ve got yourself a boyfriend!” Said Plagg, teasing her while popping out of her jacket.

“Wh-What? N-No! No way! We’re not… Pfff, no!”

As Adrien headed towards his car and hopped inside, she started to head home as well, her heart still pounding so fast at the thought of what just happened.

***

In the distance, an old man was looking at the scene, hidden under his umbrella. The two teenagers didn’t even notice him.

“It seems that everything worked well after all. Excellent choice, master.”

He smiled, bringing his hand to his chin and looked in the distance.

“Those two are made for each other, no matter which miraculous they have.”

And with those words, he simply walked away, satisfied with how everything happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go, now you know how everything started for MisterBug and Lady Noire! I hope you liked this twist of reality!
> 
> Now, I just want to warn you about the updates. The other parts are not ready (not even began, to be honest). So it's pointless to ask in the comments when will the next chapter be updated. Because truth is, I don't know either! But still, do not worry, you WILL have continuation and I'll try my best to make the wait the shortest possible. After all, I believe it can be fun, not only for you but also for me, to see what can happen in this alternative universe. 
> 
> In the meanwhile, all can I say is that the next chapter will be my revisitation of Stormy Weather! Please, keep in mind that I will follow the order of the French dub as it is the one I'm watching. Also, I won't make a chapter about every single episode there is: because it would be way too long, and there are still two full seasons we have yet to see. I will make a selection of the ones, I think, would be the more interesting for this story, and recreate the plot with differences. But of course, references will be made to the ones that didn't get an alternate storyline. 
> 
> Okay, I think that was everything I had to say. Thank you so much for reading this! Do not hesitate to leave comments so I can know what you think!


	3. Stormy Weather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! So, turns out this one was really a fast one to write (it's also shorter, but it doesn't matter). There's no point in making you wait for it, so here you go with this rewriting of Stormy Weather!

“Manon! Stop it and come back here! This is not a toy!”

Who would have thought that such a little kid could have so much energy? Certainly not Marinette as she found herself chasing after Manon Chamack in her living room. She had agreed to babysit her, not run an obstacle race! But at the moment, Marinette had to catch the girl to save the latest hat she was working on. 

But somehow, Manon managed to trick her and Marinette was now lying on her belly. However, she still managed to snatch back the hat she was working on.

“Looks like you’re playing a cat and mouse game. And the mouse is _winning_.”

Marinette groaned and threw a flat look in Plagg’s way.

“Very funny. Aren’t you supposed to stay out of view?”

“Well, your little mouse isn’t in this room, anymore. By the way, you should probably be careful with your phone.”

With that, he returned on top of a shelf, where little Manon couldn’t possibly see him. Marinette got back up on her feet and looked for Manon before seeing her, with Marinette’s phone in a hand.

“I’m voting for Mireille!”

“Hey, that’s my phone, give it back.”

Manon jumped on the occasion to snatch the hat back and ran away with it, laughing loudly. Marinette sighed. This was a lost cause, wasn’t it? 

With this thought, she heard the doorbell ring. Marinette headed there and opened the door to reveal Alya. Those last few weeks since the beginning of the school year, the two girls have bonded so strongly that Marinette already considered her as her best friend.

“Girl, guess who’s having a photoshoot in the park right now!”

Then, Alya turned over her phone screen to Marinette and her eyes widened.

“No. WAY! Adrien is having a photoshoot in the park right now? Oh, I have to…”

“Marinette, who is that? 

Marinette turned her head to see Manon, with the hat in her hand. Marinette took it swiftly before sighing.

“I forgot… I’m babysitting, I can’t go.”

“What do you mean, you can’t? I’ll be there to supervise this little one when you’ll be busy!”

“Uh, who are you?”

Alya kneeled to face Manon.

“I’m a unicorn from the planet Rispa! And I hide behind this brilliant girl form so I can make the wishes of sweet little girls like you come true!”

“Pfff, you’re not a unicorn! … Are you?”

Alya then picked Manon up and sitted her on her shoulders. Telling her friend they will be waiting for her outside, Marinette went inside to put back the hat in the room.

“So, planning to make a move, this time?” 

“Huh… Plagg, it’s not that easy!”

“Sure it is. You just go over to him and say : hey Adrien, I’m actually in love with you, so can we go out and eat some camembert until we are so full we can’t move?’’

In the last few weeks following the moment Adrien handed her his umbrella, the boy didn’t leave Marinette’s thoughts once. In a matter of days, she already knew that she was crushing on him. Of course, he was handsome (understatement of the century), but he was also kind, smart, sometimes shy, always willing to discover new things, but most of all… He was sincere and honest. Those two qualities were what made Marinette like him in the first place: they proved to her that he wasn’t just a plain rich boy, he was so much more! And she longed to discover all those sides of him. 

Marinette laughed at Plagg’s remark. His love for camembert was… Unexplainable, really. He wanted to eat this sort of cheese all day, if this was possible. However, after a few days, she managed to make an agreement with him: she would give him as many cheese as he wanted, unless it stayed home. When she was out of the house and she needed to feed him because the transformation exhausted him, she gave him freshly made macarons. Plagg didn’t complain at this compromise: even if he loved cheese so much he could marry it, he also quite enjoyed the pastries her parents made and paid no mind on eating them. For Marinette, that was good: this way, she wasn’t forced to smell cheese wherever she went just to assure Plagg will be fully nourished at all times. And also, this was a prime ressource they could always rely on since her parents were always making them. 

“This isn’t how it works, Plagg. Besides, I’m not even sure he’s interested in me that way. Now, come on, we have to go to the park.” 

As he settled into her purse, Marinette headed out, joining Alya and Manon.

***

Adrien was posing by the fountain, listening to what Giuseppe, his photographer, told him to do. It was a sunny day and Adrien was happy to get to do this photoshoot outside and not in some random studio. He much prefered doing shoots in public where he could see people: even when curious ones where staring, wondering what was this all about, he enjoyed it. 

That’s why when he noticed that Marinette and Alya (and a little girl) were there, he simply smiled at them and waved before focusing on the task he had in hand. 

“No! I want to go with Marinette! _ She _’s my babysitter!”

As the child made a scene, everybody’s attention, including Adrien’s, turned over them. Then, he saw the child pulling at Marinette’s hand while she and Alya were looking at each other wide-eyed.

“Hum… It’s okay, Alya. I’ll go and get her a balloon. She is right afterall.”

This distraction being over with, Adrien returned to his photoshoot. However, he was doing this for what felt like hours, and he soonly became unfocused and was yawning at occasions.

“No! No! This isn’t it… We are missing something… You! Over there!”

Adrien also turned his head to see Alya seated against a tree, her phone in one hand and an apple in the other.

“Who? Me?”

“Yes? What would you think about taking pictures with Signore Adrien over here?”

Adrien smiled. After all, he liked Alya. She was a cool and nice girl and he enjoyed her company in class. Also, it was because of her he had the latest information about Lady… HUH! _ About akuma sightings _. Taking photos with her could actually be kind of fun. 

“Oh… Huh… I would love to, but… Oh, I fink I’m having an allergic reaksion two sis apple! But… I know fhe perfect replacement. Don’t move, I’ll be right back!”

With that, she ran off. Adrien shrugged. Well, it was not a big deal. Anyone could do this task.

“Mah, I guess we’ll have to wait. Go get some water.”

“Thank you, Giuseppe.”

He headed off to his seat where some assistants handed him a cup of water and a towel for the sweat. He thanked them before taking a gulp of the water. He didn’t realise how thirsty he was. From the corner of his eye, he glanced down at his bag and smiled when he saw Tikki creeping at him. She simply smiled in his way, a smile that instantly brighten his days as it was so warm. He gave a wink in her way before he rose up, returning to the fountain.

***

“Girl! They are looking for an extra to pose alongside Adrien!”

Marinette inhaled and jumped. She was about to climb on a merry-go-round following Manon’s wish to take a ride. 

“What? Really! Oh my Gosh, I have to go! But… Oh, wait. There is Manon. I can’t leave her like that…”

“But we’re talking about Adrien. You have to go! Look, I can keep an eye for her, it shouldn’t take you too long anyway.”

“You’re right. Okay, Manon, stay with Alya so I can go take photos with Adrien.”

“Why? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Wha- No! Yes? No, I mean, no, he isn’t!”

“Well, now go! I’ll handle it from here, trust me.”

With this, Alya put herself and Manon on a horse.  
“Time to get to Rispa! Set the coordinates, captain, because we are all boarded and ready to go! Yee-ha!”

“Yee-ha!” Screamed Manon, convinced to stay with Alya.

Marinette smiled and turned her heels to head to the photoshoot. However, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed everyone looking up in the sky. She did the same and saw a girl, flying with an umbrella.With a move, she pointed it at the merry-go-round, trapping it in an ice block. Then, Marinette started running again, but with a completely different motive. Manon and Alya were in danger! She jumped behind a bench and let Plagg out of her purse.

“No time to _ chat _, Plagg. Claws out!”

Transformed as Lady Noire, she returned to the scene to see MisterBug was already there, his yo-yo attached to the villain’s ankle. Lady Noire jumped in the scene.

“Well, well. Such a nice catch to start this beautiful day. We won’t let a little rain chase us away.”

“I’m Stormy Weather and I bring much more than rain!”

“Oh, is that so? How about you calm down and not transform your anger into a horrible storm?”

In a move, Stormy Weather oriented her umbrella towards Lady Noire and wind was now blowing. In fact, it was so powerful it actually made Lady Noire fly backwards and hit three cars before lying on the street, groaning.

“Everything alright, my lady?”

She looked up and grabbed her partner’s hand. He looked down at her with a frown, as if he was worried. She brushed it off with a smile. 

“Yes, don’t worry about me. Although… Maybe I shouldn’t have provoked her so much. I wasn’t expecting to be _blown away_ like that.”

“At least, you weren’t hurt. But we have to hurry. She froze up an entire merry-go-round and there are two prisoners. I tried to break it with my yo-yo but it was pointless. Too slippery.”

“No doubt. Did you see where she went?”

“Sorry, no. I was concerned about you so… I let her out of my sight to go after you… Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Bugaboy! I would have done the same thing.”

“Really?”

“Of course! You’re my partner!”

MisterBug smiled and she could see a blush on his cheeks. But as the temperature just shot down by a few degrees, she paid it no mind as her cheeks might have took a redder look too. Just as they were about to get back to business, Stormy Weather appeared in front of them. Without second thoughts, the duo started to run towards the villain.

“Ice! Cyclone!”

As the street was now frozen and the wind blew hard, the heroes now found themselves going backwards. MisterBug quickly caught a street light and held on to it as he caught Lady Noire’s ankle with his other hand. They waited for the wind to stop before they got back on their feet.

“Okay, now, where is she?”

“Let’s get looking, she couldn’t have gone too far.”

As MisterBug used his yo-yo and Lady Noire her staff to patrol over the city, looking for the vilain. But it was when they stopped in front of a screen showing a broadcast with her that they understood where she was: the television studio. They set up a new destination.

***

As they crossed the door running, MisterBug suddenly stopped in his tracks. Lady Noire soon noticed and joined him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, unless… Doesn’t this girl on the poster remind you of someone?”

“It does… Oh! I know. Today, on Kids+, there was a contest to vote for the new weather presenter. The finalists were this girl, Aurore, and another one named Mireille. I haven’t personally followed it though…”

“Well, I’ll take a wild guess. Stormy Weather was the loser. That’s what got her akumatized by Hawk Moth.”

“Makes sense. But we have to hurry, if this broadcasting is live, she must be in the studio!”

“After you, m’lady.”

She chuckled and sprinted towards the staircase, MisterBug right after her. As they stormed inside the studio, they saw it was empty: meaning the broadcasting was a recording. After this, the lights shut down.

“I can’t see any- Wooh!” Screamed MisterBug before falling on the floor with a loud thump.

Lady Noire couldn’t help herself but laugh while calmly heading his way.

“Can’t spread your wings on the darkest of nights, dear sir?” She asked while kneeling by his side. 

“Ha. Ha. Not everybody gets to see in the dark like you do, you know?”

“Hum, I know this is quite the privilege. C’mon, let’s go get her.”

She grabbed his hand and started to run. As she turned over to look at him while going up the stairs, he noticed he wasn’t even hesitant in his steps. He kept her pace and let her fully guide him: the trust he placed in her warmed her heart. At this moment, she knew she couldn’t have asked for a better partner than him.

They finally bursted on the roof to witness Stormy Weather laughing while creating a real tornado over her head.

“Took you two long enough! Unfortunately, it is too late! You should probably give me your miraculouses now and maybe I’ll spare both of you!”

“This is far from over, Stormy Weather! Right, MisterBug?”

As she didn’t obtained an answer, she turned her head over to him. She followed his gaze to see he was too focused on their hands holding. She loosened her grip.

“MisterBug? That was your cue…” She said through gritted teeth.

He seemed to wake up from this and finally let her hand go. He laughed nervously. As Stormy Weather started to drop hail over them, Lady Noire used her staff to shield the both of them.

“Yeah… Right… Akuma and all… What did you say?”

She sighed dramatically and put her palm against her forehead, annoyed by how easily he could get distracted at times.She joined her hand to the other to continue spinning the staff.

“Hurry up, I feel like I’m going to have a cramp if I keep on doing this forever.”

“Lucky charm!” He said finally.

Soon enough, ladybugs brought him an object. He frowned when he saw it.

“A kite? Well, it is quite windy today, that’s true.”

“Be careful while flying it, don’t forget that’s how Benjamin Franklin made the lightning rod.”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea!” 

“I know, I’m quite the genius when I want to. Keep building up your plan, I’ll go distract her.” 

She ran off and began keeping the attention of the villain. He looked around to find a way to make a connection between the string of the kite and Stormy Weather. Then, he decided to keep it simple: most of the time, the most simple things were the most efficient. He attached the kite to the string of his yo-yo and swung it so it enveloped the waist of the villain. 

“Thunderstorm!” She screamed.

However, as planned, the first lightning bolt struck her. As she was surprised with the sudden feeling, Lady Noire jumped on the occasion, as she was high enough to do so, casted her cataclysm and touched the umbrella. As the akuma flew out of it, MisterBug used the yo-yo still wrapped over the victim to bring her back on the ground before capturing the insect. He released it and watched it fly away for a moment before calling the miraculous cure formula to repair any damage. This is when Stormy Weather fully returned to her civilian self.

“Wait, what am I doing here?” She asked herself, staring at her surroundings. 

The superheroes fistbumped.

“Nicely done, MisterBug. I wouldn’t have done better myself.” She said while nudging him.

“I’m sure that’s not true. Without your reminder, I wouldn’t have been able to pull this trick off. You’re very smart.”

“Maybe, but you were the one to figure out a way of using the kite. You’re smart too, please, don’t doubt that.”

He began to smile shyly from all this sudden praise from him partner. As he was about to say something else, his earring beeped urgently.

“Woops, looks like you have to go. Well, it was a pleasure seeing you again, kind sir. See you next time!”

She jumped down the building and he watched her leave with a sigh. Then, he swung his yo-yo and got the closer he could to the park.

  
***

“Spots off.”

With his transformation wearing off, he handed Tikki a cookie he had in the pocket of his shirt and sighed.

“What’s the matter, Adrien?”

“Nothing… Guess I’m just disappointed I didn’t find the time to tell her about how I feel.”

She looked at him curiously.

“Well… It _ is _ true you have a job to do. But don’t worry! I’m sure, someday, the time will be appropriate enough for you to tell her everything!”

“Do you think she likes me too? The way I do, I mean.”

“I can’t guess or know that. But from what I sense… She is very fond of you. Also, don’t forget you just met each other.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right. There is a right time for everything. Let’s just hope it comes soon enough. Now come on, we have to get back to the photoshoot.”

Tikki slid inside his shit and he started to walk towards the spot. 

***

As Marinette transformed back into her civilian self, she ran back inside the park, heading straight to the merry-go-round. When she saw Alya and Manon were free, she was so relieved. She ran to them. Manon saw her and jumped to give her a hug. 

“Manon! Alya! Oh my Gosh, I’m so sorry! I was so worried about you! Are you alright?”

“We are, no need to worry anymore. We’re safe and sound thanks to Lady Noire and MisterBug. What about you though, you weren’t answering your phone!”

“Oh! Huh… I guess I just got so caught up in everything that I didn’t notice. Sorry. But I promise I’m fine!”

“Is that so? Enough to go take some photos with Adrien?”

“Of course! Let’s go!”

The three girls returned to the fountain to see the whole team still there, waiting for the extra to come.

“Stay here with Alya, alright Manon? I’ve got some stuff to do.”

With new confidence, she headed to the photographer. She thought she saw Adrien smile, but she tried to pay it no mind as it would distract her.

“I’m ready for the pictures.” She said as she faced the photographer.

As he turned his head in her way, his eyes widened.

“That’s it! This is perfect!”

***

“Well… It might not have been your dream photoshoot with Adrien, but the photos are still looking good.”

Once Manon was gone, Marinette invited Alya to stay over at her house for the evening. They looked at the pictures the photographer just sent them.

“I mean… I admit a group babysitting theme is quite... original. Us four look amazing.”

“So, you don’t mind that Manon and me joined you two?”

“Not at all! This is not going to be the last time I’ll get to hang with Adrien. There will be other opportunities, I know it.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit! Now, can we watch a movie or something?”

“Sure, choose whatever you want!”

With that, the two friends settled in front of the computer, eating pop-corn, sliding also a few ones towards Plagg discreetly, and began the quest on finding the perfect movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one in line: Lady Wifi! Take in mind I'm skipping two episodes: The Bubbler and The Pharaoh!


	4. Lady Wifi

Being seated really close to the front of the classroom, Marinette basically had no other choice than listen to the text Miss Bustier was reading out loud. The subject didn’t really interested her, but as it was the subject of a hearing exam the class will soon have, she had to take notes: also because Alya by her side was doing… Whatever else that wasn’t related in the slightest to the course. This way, her friend would have the necessary resources for studying when the time would come. 

“Alya, are you still with us?”

Marinette turned her head over to her friend to see her with… A Lady Noire picture. However, her face was cut out. Marinette frowned. What was her friend doing exactly? She retained her sigh. Ever since the time she and MisterBug fought the Pharaoh last week-end, which was Alix’s older brother, Alya had this crazy theory (maybe not so much after all) that Lady Noire was a student of her grade in their school, Alya tried to find her at any cost. She was also planning on finding MisterBug: in addition to her previous theory, if Lady Noire was a student (and not a more-than-5 000 years old person like the papyrus exposed at the Louvre showed), what were the chances that MisterBug was any older than her? But as the history manual incident gave her more of a reason, she settled on finding Lady Noire first. 

Alya quickly put away the picture, earning herself a teasing look from her friend.

“Adrien didn’t come back from the bathroom, Nino?” 

“Huh… I… Don’t think so?”

With this, the bell rang and everyone started to pack their stuff as Miss Bustier quickly explained the homework. Marinette didn’t wait to get the homework and rushed out of the classroom. Right now, MisterBug was fighting an akuma all by himself. She wanted to go help him sooner, but as Adrien went to the bathroom, Miss Bustier wouldn’t let another student leave the classroom. She quickly found a place to transform and rushed out to help him.

***

“Hey, do you want to… Uh?”

Alya turned over her head to the side in the optic to ask Marinette if she wanted to swing by her house. But it looked like she was already gone. How did she vanish so quickly?

“Alya, I’m counting on you to give Marinette her homework.”

“Yes, of course.”

With that, Alya got out of the classroom and started looking for her friend. She wasn’t in the bathroom, nor in the courtyard, so she went to the locker’s room, searching her. But then, she noticed Chloé acting in a suspicious way. Alya retreated and watched her. She almost let out a squeal when she saw a black mask, cat ears and even a grey staff. 

No… Could it be? Alya excitedly got out of the school, leaving a message on Marinette’s cellphone.

“Nino! We need to talk, right now!”

He didn’t dare to protest while she was dragging him near the Seine river. She seated him down on a bench. Also, she received a notification that redirected her to a live broadcasting: MisterBug and Lady Noire have just defeated another villain. Everything was clicking in Alya’s brain. It  _ had _ to be! Otherwise, how could she explain what she just witnessed?

“I need your help to prove my theory, are you in?”

“Huh… What is this theory exactly?”

“I think I know who Lady Noire is!”

Then, she got closer to his ear.

“Chloé.”

She pulled away, but all Nino did was burst out in laughter.

“Seriously? Of all people, you think  _ Chloé _ is Lady Noire?”

“Well… I believe that. And I as I said, I need to get some proof. So, you in?”

Nino sighed when he saw she wasn’t about to give up any time soon.

“Alright, I’ll do it. What’s the plan?”

***

MisterBug swung across town to get back to school. He also ran on roofs to get there faster. He landed behind an advertisement pillar before dropping his transformation. Tikki appeared beside him.

“Wow! Time goes by so fast when you’re saving the world!”

He sighed.

“Tell me about it. Another whole afternoon of class I missed! Seriously, can’t Hawk Moth just cut us some slack from time to time? I would truly appreciate it.”

“So does anyone else in the city. But in the meantime, someone has to put a stop to his schemes, don’t you think?”

“I know… I just have so much to do already… I’m starting to be afraid I won’t find the time anymore to do anything on my schedule.”

“Don’t worry about that, Adrien. You’ll find a balance eventually. Beside, I’ll always be by your side to support you.”

He smiled, but his attention shifted when he saw Marinette rushing inside her parent’s bakery, which was right at the corner, at the speed of light. He shrugged.

“Marinette is a very… curious girl.” Said Tikki.

“Yeah… Come on, we have to get back home. I have some homework to do.”

Tikki in his shirt, he got inside the car and got home a few moments later. Only there, when he was about to start his homework, he got a text from Nino.

**Dude, Alya has this crazy theory about who Lady Noire might be! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow after I help figure out if she was right or not. Btw, I have your homework since you left school unexpectdly!**

Adrien’s eyes widened. 

“What does he mean, Alya has a crazy theory about who Lady Noire is?”

“Do you think there is a chance Alya knows?”

“Don’t think so. I don’t know her so well, but I trust m’lady. There is absolutely no way she would risk revealing her identity.”

“Well… She did drop that book, a few days ago…”

“Probably just a coincidence! There’s no way Lady Noire is a simple collège student! I know because Lady Noire was at the birthday party the Bubbler made for me: every other student in my grade was there already.”

“You might be right. Okay, I’ll leave you to your homework, I know you have a lot to do.”

“Don’t want to be my tutor?”

“Oh, Adrien… You already have Nathalie for that! You’re just asking me to help you because you know I have an answer to almost anything.”

“Come on, please! This is about Joan of Arc! You knew her better than anyone!”

“I will not start sharing personal details about my previous holders. You’d better stop trying, mister.”

He pouted, but smiled.

“I know… I just like teasing you. Okay, time to concentrate.”

***

Marinette slowly rose up from her desk, understanding she must have fallen asleep while she was still doing her homework. Beside her, Plagg (who tried to distract her many many times while she was studying), yawned loudly.

“What time is it?” He asked.

Marinette turned on her tablet.

“Well… Class is starting… A HOUR AGO!”

Marinette jumped from her seat and quickly changed, tied up her hair after she brushed it, quickly ate a croissant and rushed into Françoise-Dupont. Arriving in front of the classroom, she carefully opened the door and sneaked to her seat. Only there, she saw Alya wasn’t present. She shook Nino’s shoulder, making him turn over to her.

“Where is she?” She whispered, referring to her seatmate.

“Oh, she got suspended.”

“WHAT?”   


Miss Bustier turned.

“Marinette, when you’re late to class, the least you could do is be discreet about it.” 

“Sorry, Miss…”

She seated right back, waiting for her teacher to turn right back to the board before she shook Nino’s shoulder once more. He turned over to her again.

“What happened?”

“Well… If I put simply, she’s suspected of breaking inside Chloé’s locker. Or as Alya thought,  _ Lady Noire’s  _ locker.”

“WHAT?”   


Miss Bustier turned another time.

“That’s enough, Marinette. Go to the principal’s office, NOW.”

Marinette bowed her head and mumbled an apology before heading out of the classroom. She headed to Mr. Damoclès’ office and knocked on the door.

“Mr. Damoclès? Can I come in? Mister?”

That’s when Plagg got out.

“Well, he’s not here. How unfortunate, perhaps we can go back home, I didn’t get my camembert dose with all this rushed leaving, earlier.”

“No, Plagg. Miss Bustier told me to go to the principal’s office, so I’m…”

As she put her hand against the door, she saw that the door was open. She pushed it and gasped when she saw the principal frozen with a stop sign on him. Marinette got closer and shook her hand in front of him to see if he would react. As he didn’t, she examined him for a few seconds before the screen of his computer lit up, showing an akumatized girl.   
“I’m Lady Wifi, the truth vigilante delivering a brand new scoop just for you! Your dearest principal has a little secret he would like to share with all of you!”

She leaned on him and rester her arm on his shoulder.

“So, Mr. Damoclès, is that true you suspended without a good reason a student named Alya today?”

“Yes… It’s true.”

“So you  _ admit _ that you acted in an unfair way and you were not being impartial or responsible at all!”

He bowed his head.

“Yes… I did that.”

Marinette stared at the cellphone the villain was holding in her hand. Her eyes widened as she spotted the charm.

“Oh no, Alya! Plagg, we have to do something! I have to save my best friend!”

“Is she really, though? I mean, she thought that Chloé was Lady Noire after all…”

She gave him a flat look. 

“It doesn’t matter, she still needs to be saved.”

“Will you be okay with fighting against her?”

“Am I dreaming or are you genuinely concerned right now?”

“No I’m not!” He spat back.

“Suuuure, you’re not. Anyway, I don’t have much of a choice, right now. Plagg, claws out!”

***

On the screen, Alya  _ stopped  _ the principal. She smiled and spoke up once again.   
“And now, for the next scoop, an exclusive interview with the girl under Lady Noire’s mask. Stay connected!”

And the broadcasting instantly stopped. Adrien gathered all his stuff as Miss Bustier told everyone to go back home for their own safety. Instead, Adrien ran off to the boy’s bathroom. As he saw nobody was there, he let Tikki out. But what Nino just told him spun inside his head: Alya that saw Chloé’s locker, that took a picture of it and was brought to the principal’s office before being suspended three whole days because of it.

“I really hope Alya is wrong… I can’t possibly be in love with… With Chloé!”

“Adrien, I don’t think this is important at the moment.”

“Yeah, but… Ugh, fine. Well, if we follow this theory… Lady Wifi will be headed to Chloé’s place. There’s no time to lose. Tikki, spots on!”

He swung in the streets of the city before landing on a roof of a building facing the Grand Paris: André Bourgeois’ prestigious hotel, but also his and, by extension, Chloé’s home. Adrien used to come there all the time, so he knew exactly where her room was. He opened his yo-yo and, on his screen, he zoomed inside the room. He gasped when he saw Chloé spinning around a staff in a cat suit.

“No, this can’t be true!”

“Y’know, it’s not polite to spy on people.”

He jumped in surprise before turning his head to see Lady Noire by his side, seating nonchalantly. He sighed in relief before he put away his yo-yo. 

“It’s you… But what about…”

She snorted.

“Did you really believe this girl could ever be me? Frankly, I’m disappointed.”

“No! Of course not! I just… Well, nevermind.”

She rolled her eyes, smiling, before she nudged him while getting up.

“Huh-uh. So, what were you saying a few moments ago again? Oh, right, something like “noooo, this can’t be true! my dearest and  _ chat- _ rming partner cannot be this egocentric girl!” She said before bursting out in laughter so hard she had to hold her stomach.

He groaned.

“You know, now, you’re the one being impolite by mocking this poor girl.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t be so stuck up! Anyway, why are we here, exactly?”

“I have my reasons to believe that Lady Wifi’s next stop will be this girl’s room.”

“Okay, so we wait for her to come.”

“Exactly. Have you brought a card game or something to spend the time?” He teased.

“No… But you could always make one, hum?”

“You know I can’t use my power for this type of reason.”

“Well… I was kinda hoping!” She sighed dramatically.

With that, MisterBug smiled before sitting down, inviting her to do the same. Without resisting, she seated by his side as the two of them now kept a close eye on Chloé’s bedroom.

***

A few hours passed before something finally happened. When they saw Chloé answering a call before throwing her phone away, the two heroes knew something was going on. And when Lady Wifi materialized in Chloé’s room,  _ pausing  _ her as she ran away, they both jumped down, heading straight to the room as Lady Wifi started yet another broadcast.

“And Lady Noire is… Chloé Bourgeois!”

With that, the two heroes kicked opened the French window, bursting in the room and startling Lady Wifi by the same occasion.

“Wha- But… I thought… Who  _ are  _ you?!”

The duo looked at each other, confused by this question.

“I thought  _ she  _ was Lady Noire! How…”

“Well, maybe next time have better sources. As instance, I can confirm that I am, indeed, not this girl!” Said Lady Noire with a light chuckle.

Lady Wifi growled.

“Alright, change of plans then!”

She undid what she put up: the pausing of Chloé and the live streaming. As she did, Chloé stumbled away from the scene, screaming.

“Listen, Alya…” Started MisterBug.

“Alya has been  _ disconnected.  _ I’m Lady Wifi and I’ll bring both your identities as a news flash to everybody else!”

As she started firing at them, the two heroes did their best to skip her attacks. 

“Follow me!” Shouted MisterBug.

Lady Noire quickly followed him as he rushed inside the staircase.

“What are you planning to do, exactly?”

“Finding some place where we can trap her so she doesn’t shoot us any second! We need an opportunity to take her phone away from her.”

“That’s where she draws all her powers from. Oh, I have an idea! Let’s go to the kitchen!”

“The kitchen? Are you sure?”

“Positive! Come on!”

They finally exited the staircase on the restaurant level. As they got ready for a fight in case she was already there, they stopped when they saw that the place was completely empty. 

“Are those… Cellphones, on the tables?” Asked Lady Noire.

The next second, Lady Wifi materialized in front of them and fired once more. Lady Noire found herself propelled into a wall. 

“Okay, I’ve had enough of you appearing out of the blue!”

He proceeded to hit every single device in the restaurant with his yoyo, cracking screens and slowly cornering her. Feeling trapped, she ran off to the kitchen. Throwing a grin in Lady Noire’s way to make her understand she had a great idea, he saw her sprinting to get inside the kitchen. As he was about to come inside, Lady Wifi put a lock on the doors. He hit them, frustrated, before searching for another way inside. 

***

Lady Noire did her best to attack the villain without being hit by any of the signs Lady Wifi sent her way. However, once one of her hand was captured under a lockin sign, the other one was soon as well. She did her best to not follow her impulse to use her cataclysm, as it would only half-solve the problem, the other hand still being trapped. Lady Wifi jumped on the occasion to start another live-streaming.

“Who is Lady Noire? I know all of you are dying to finally have this information to yourselves. Well, as we wait to unveil MisterBug, let’s start with this little kitty who couldn’t resist getting inside a box without thinking of what it could contain.”

Lady Noire groaned. Now that she came to think of it, this kitchen was like a box if we thought of the shape. In this light, she did act exactly like a real cat would have.

Lady Wifi got closer and took a look at Lady Noire’s face before gripping the mask with her fingers. As she tried to pull it away, she finally realised it wasn’t coming off in any possible way.

“Why is it not coming off?” She asked, impatiently. 

“Huh… Magic?”

With this answer, the dumbwaiter rang and MisterBug popped out.

“Sorry for crashing, but I believe I need to stop you.”

“How unusually romantic. The mister came to save his lady!”

“Okay, hum, I’m NOT his lady!” Protested Lady Noire.

“Not the time for that, kitty!” He said through gritted teeth.

This distracted him enough for Lady Wifi to strike and corner him enough to push him inside the freezer, where she locked the door.

“No, no, no, no, no!”

He banged against the door. Without further notice, he called his lucky charm.

“A fake cellphone? Let’s see… Nope, doesn’t work, just has the shape. Okay… Focus… How can I get out of…”

“CATACLYSM!”

The next moment, the freezer’s door crumbled to ashes and Lady Noire rushed inside.

“MisterBug, are you alright?”

“Yes… But… How did you get out of the locks?”

“She… She undid them. I don’t fully understand why, but she didn’t remove the filming option.”

“And… You used your cataclysm to let me out?”

“Of course I did! As if it was even a question!”

He smiled. Then, their miraculouses beeped.

“We have to hurry before we transform back.”

“We also have to find a way out of here. I don’t think we’ll both fit inside the dumbwaiter.” Said Lady Noire. 

“Well… We’re inside a kitchen… I’m sure there is something that can help us.”

***

Both of their eyes settled on two distinct objects. Lady Noire spotted the microwave while MisterBug grabbed the nearest pan. They turned towards each other.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She asked him.

“You bet!”

As she pulled the microwave closer to the door, MisterBug settled the pan inside. Lady Noire plugged it and started it as her partner pushed it closer to the door.

“Brace yourself.” He said as he covered his head. 

“I hope it works…”

When the explosion occurred, they both smiled.

“Meet you up on the roof!” She said as she jumped inside the dumbwaiter.

Sending it upwards, he pushed the doors before taking the staircase. When he finally got there, he saw Lady Noire and their temporary enemy battling against each other. MisterBug swung his yo-yo and caught the wrist of Lady Wifi, making her drop her cellphone.

“Oh, looking for this?” He said while lifting his lucky charm up.

With the poor lighting here due to the time for the day, he was pretty much certain she wasn’t able to see the red and black spots pattern.

“No!” 

She grunted, making him lose his grip before rushing to him and tackle him to the floor. Of course, he let her win, taking back the phone. She let out a laugh.

“ _ This _ was your plan to defeat me? Truly pathetic. Now, time to take a break and… Huh?”

As she swiped the screen, nothing came out of it.

“Hey! This isn’t my phone…”

“Oh, believe me, we know!” Said Lady Noire behind her.

Lady Wifi turned over to see the cat hero shaking the phone in her hand before throwing it with all her might on the floor, breaking the screen. The akuma got out of it and MisterBug seized the moment to catch it before repairing all the damage with the miraculous curse. 

“Pound it!” Said the heroes while fistbumping.

“Lady Noire and MisterBug? Woah! Can I film you two for my blog please? Let me just get my phone back!”

Alya, back in her normal form, sprinted to take back her phone. However, the heroes disappeared as their transformation would soon drop. They went down in the lobby and as Lady Noire was about to detransform inside a supply closet, MisterBug stopped her.

“Wait, Lady Noire… I have to tell you something.” He said.

“What is it?”

“Huh… I… I... ”

Lady Noire smiled sympathetically towards him.

“Can this go for another time? You don’t want to learn my true identity now, right?” She chuckled.

“Hum… No, I guess not…”

“Well, in that case, you’d better run off before you turn back into a pumpkin! See you next time!”

With that, she closed the door of the closet and MisterBug stood in front of it a few seconds before sighing and running off. A few blocks away, he let his transformation go, Tikki landing on his hands. Adrien handed her a piece of cookie.

“Are you alright, Adrien?” She asked in a worried tone.

He smiled.

“Yeah, it’s like you said. I’ll find the right moment someday.”   
  


***

Marinette stood on her balcony, staring at the Seine river in the distance. Beside her, Plagg watched too.

“Can you remind me why while we were at the hotel, we didn’t take any cheese again?”

Marinette sighed.

“Because that would be stealing, Plagg. Besides, you get as many cheese as you want already!”

“So? I don’t see what’s wrong with completing an already amazing collection!”

She snorted. 

“Hey… Do you have any idea of what MisterBug wanted to tell me yesterday?”

“No? Why would I? Besides, why would I care?”

“You know, a simple “no” would have been enough.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be fun.”

She was about to reply when she heard Alya calling her. Plagg disappeared from view as the girl climbed out of the doortrap.

“Look at my new phone! My last one was a dinosaur compared to it! Look at the graphism!”

Marinette’s eyes widened when she saw the pictures of Adrien.

“Can you please tell me why there are so many pictures of Adrien in here?”

“Well… Don’t you think that with a red suit… He kinda looks like MisterBug?” She asked while showing her a montage.

“What? Are you nuts? How can you dare compare Adrien to him? They’re absolutely nothing alike! And Compared to Adrien… MisterBug isn’t the showstopper!”

“Hey, may I remind you that I actually find MisterBug cute?”

“Well, okay, but don’t keep so many pictures of Adrien… Unless, you send them to me.”

With that, she snatched the phone from Alya’s hand, running away with it and laughing while she protested the gesture.


	5. Timebreaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's me again, QueenPlatypus (I would really like a platypus miraculous...)! Welcome to this reinvention of the Timebreaker episode (as I watch MLB in its French dub, I must say I had a hard time finding the english name of the episode as I know it as "Chronogirl", it still sounds more fitting to me to be honest). 
> 
> Anywho, I hope you'll like it as much as the other ones! Also, don't be shy to express your thoughts when I release new chapters. I absolutely could use any feedback you guys can give me (bad or good). 
> 
> And now, let's get into this new chapter!

For the past hour, Marinette kept running in her house to assist her parents. Today marked their 20th wedding anniversary: for the occasion, they had a reservation at a prestigious restaurant. Because of the place, both parents had to look the part. 

“Marinette? Which is better: with the flower or without?” 

“Huh… Definitely with!”

“Marinette!”

She ran again to go to their parents’ bedroom. While her mother was preparing in the bathroom, her father settled on their bedroom to get ready.

“Is my moustache looking good?”

“Of course. But… I think you might forget something else.”

His father’s eyes widened when he saw he didn’t remove his appron. He thanked Marinette before he escorted his wife down the stairs.

“Don’t forget that Ms. Chamack is coming to… Oh, she’s here, already. Marinette, would you mind giving her her cake?”

“Sure thing. You two, have fun, okay?”

“Sure will! See you later, sweetie!”

As her parents left for the restaurant, Marinette gave Ms. Chamack her Eiffel tower cake before she headed to her room. Only there, she dared to take a deep breath.

“I’m so exhausted already! But I have to go again or I’ll be late to Kim and Alix’s challenge!”

“Yeah, you never stop. Don’t forget to bring the banner!” Said Plagg.

“Oh, I almost did! Thanks for the reminder, Plagg.” 

She thanked him by throwing him a camembert slice. He captured it immediately and ate it in a matter of seconds.

“This never stops being delicious!”

“I’m sure of it, now come on, I can’t be late to this again.”

Plagg settled comfortably inside her purse, Marinette left her house and headed for the metro.

***

Adrien finally managed to escape his bodyguard. At the moment, he was supposed to be in the middle of a photoshoot, but he had another plan in mind.

“Are you sure your father won’t be mad at you for skipping the shoot?”

“Huh… I’d better not answer. Besides, it’s only some do-overs because some photos from the shoot in the park last week didn’t come out well. Normally, it shouldn’t take long. So… I can go there a bit late.”

“What about the Trocadéro? You’ll never be able to get there in five minutes, it’s too far!”

“I might not… But MisterBug could!"

"You know you shouldn't use your powers for personal gain, right?"

"Just this one time, pretty please Tikki?"

"Very well... But be quick, okay?"

"Thank you so much! Tikki, spots on!”

Transformed, he swung his yo-yo and managed to get to the Trocadéro in short time. Making sure he was out of sight, he dropped his transformation before casually heading towards the rest of his classmates. 

“Adrien! Dude! Your father let you come? I thought you had a photoshoot!” Said Nino that was the first to greet him.

“Well… Let’s say we made a compromise.”

“I’M HERE! I’M HERE!”

Adrien and the rest of his classmates turned their heads over to a running Marinette that carried something under her arm.

“Tada!”

She then unrolled the banner she made for the occasion and the rest of the class applauded her upon seeing the result. 

“This looks very good, Marinette!” Adrien said.

He winked in her way, which made her face turn red and she mumbled so uncomprehensive words. He simply chuckled and positioned himself with the rest of his classmates. As Kim and Alix positioned themselves for the race, Max faced them.

“I’m reminding everyone of the rules. If Kim wins, Alix will have to give him her rollers. However, if Alix wins, Kim won’t give anyone any dares until the end of the school year!”

“Yeah, we’re _ sick _ of his stupid dares!” Shouted Juleka that was usually so quiet.

The rest of the class clapped louder, approving what Juleka just shouted. 

“On my count. Three… Two…”

“STOP!”

Kim fell on his face as he took a false start and Alix slided towards the class.

“What? You’re giving up that easily? Come on now, this is no fun!” Said Kim.

Alix ignored him and made her way to Alya.

“Can you please keep this for me Alya? I wouldn’t want it to fall during the race.”

In the corner of his eye, Adrien saw it was a pocketwatch. A beautiful silver pocketwatch. He could understand why Alix was doing that.

“I would like to, but…”

“Be very careful with it! This is a gift from my father. It’s super important for me!”

With that, Alix headed back next to Kim that placed himself.   
“Three… Two… One… GO!”

Kim sprinted while Alix pushed her feet to pick up speed. Adrien was following the two students, cheering along with the rest of the group.

“But… She entrusted you with it! I have to hold the banne--- Ah!”

Adrien turned his head and saw that Marinette dropped something. With quick reflexes, he caught the pocketwatch just before it hit the ground.

“Looks like you need help, mind if I take care of this for you?” Adrien asked while looking at Marinette.

She looked at him with big eyes and with a loss of words. Then, she finally spoke up.

“Thank you… Be careful with it, it belongs to Alix.”

With that, she turned again, doing her previous job.

***

The care of the watch not being hers anymore, Marinette focused on the rest while shaking the banner along with Nino that held the other side. She was watching closely as Alix now was in front of Kim. She wanted her to win so Kim won't make her do another crazy dare: she still didn’t forget about how she had to give a whole presentation in front of the class with a latex bathing cap. She swore she could still feel her hair hurting because of it.

“What are you holding there, Adrikins?”

“Be careful, Chlo’, it belongs to Alix!”

“Well… If this is Alix’s, it must not have any value.”

Marinette, bothered by what Chloé just implied, turned her head over to her.

“Give it back to Adrien, Chloé!”

She shrugged at kept the pocketwatch closer to herself. Then, as she pressed on it and a light surprised her, Chloé dropped the object to the floor. It didn’t break, but it rolled to the alley: only then, Alix rolled over it, crushing it. The whole class gasped. 

“YES! I…”

Alix turned around and saw her pocketwatch with the wheels inside dispersed about everywhere. She gasped before falling to her knees in front of it, slowly picking up the pieces. 

“I want a rematch! I was startled by the false…”

Kim stopped talking when he noticed Alix on the floor, with glowing eyes. Even him knew when he could be cocky.

“I told you to take care of it!” She shouted at Alya.

The junior reporter straightened her position.

“Well… I had to film the race, so I gave it to Marinette. But she had to hold on the banner, so she gave it to Adrien and then, Chloé took it from him and she dropped it… And… You rolled over it.”

She chuckled nervously. Alix’s fists formed while she rose up.

“Whatever, I’m not involved in any of this.” Said Chloé, turning away. 

“It’s all _ your _ fault! It’s everybody’s fault!”

“Alix… This was an accident. We didn’t mean to...” Tried Adrien.

“I won’t hear any of it!”

She took off, hands over her face. When she was at a certain distance, Marinette got back to her senses and ran off after her while Adrien picked up his phone, letting out a yelp at the sight of who called him.

“Alix! Wait up!”

She finally managed to catch up with her.

“There must be a way to fix this! You could bring it to a watchmaker… I’m sure…”

“This doesn’t change anything! This watch was totally unique, irreplaceable!” 

“I’m sure it can be repaired…”

“Just… Just drop it, Marinette! Nothing can be done, just leave me alone!”

Alix turned away from her and hugged herself while rolling away. Marinette closed her eyes and sighed, before turning on her heels to rejoin everyone else. But as she did, she gave a glance back to quickly jump out of the way. Another akumatized victim. She had rollerblades.

“Alix? Wha- What are you doing?”

“There is no more Alix, I’m Timebreaker! And I’ll do everything in my power to get my watch back!”

Marinette jumped out of the way again, making sure the villain didn’t touch her. Then, she ran off and hid behind a tree while Timebreaker touched her classmates. Marinette saw them slowly fading away.

“Plagg, I need to transform. Claws out!”

Being the first one on the scene, she managed to make Timebreaker fell with her staff.

“Time out, Timebreaker!”

“Oww, help! I’m hurt! Help me!”

Lady Noire’s eyes widened when she saw Rose carefully approaching the villain to help her get back up.

“No, don’t touch-”

But it was already too late, Timebreaker grabbed Rose’s wrist, freezing her and making her fading away slowly. She used that to roll and managed to touch Mylène, then Alya. As she was about to touch Ivan, MisterBug jumped in the scene and attached the yo-yo to her wrist, restraining her from touching the boy.

“Hope I’m not too late!” He said, cockily. 

“Don’t let her touch you!”

“Huh?”

Timebreaker used this moment of distraction to pull the yo-yo’s string, bringing the hero at her feet. 

“No!”

As she was about to touch him, Lady Noire jumped, taking the hit instead.

***

“Lady Noire! No!”

_ She… She jumped in to save me. _

He hugged her tight as she started to fade away just like everybody else.

“Wow! Six minutes in one shot! This lady-cat was full of energy! Now, I’ll just take this ring…”

MisterBug groaned as he got out of their hug.

“Don’t you even _ dare _coming close to her!” He said, angrily. 

Timebreaker rushed towards him and he dodged her hands before he grabbed her arms and threw her away. As she started to skate away, he threw his yo-yo, enrolling it around her waist. But things didn’t go as planned as instead of making her stop, the villain dragging him along. But he held on tight, he won’t ever let go. He had to fix everything, he had to save his lady, he had to save everyone disappearing. He just got these friends, he wasn’t about to let them go that easily!

Then, they crossed through a light that made him lose his focus as he let go of Timebreaker. He landed on his stomach, groaning… Then, as he got up, he thought he could hear his classmates cheering, just like he did a few minutes ago. He got up and looked down to see the class and Kim and Alix still racing against each other.

“Wow… So… We really went back in time…”

“What are you holding there, Adrikins?” He heard Chloé say.

MisterBug recognized the scene. His eyes widened. He couldn't let this happen another time.

“CHLOÉ! PUT IT DOWN!” He shouted.

Startled by this sudden screaming, she dropped the pocketwatch. He cringed as he witnessed, once again, the watch being crushed under Alix’s wheels. Timebreaker turned towards him.

“MisterBug, this time, this is all _ your _fault!”

Alix then slowly rolled over to the watch.

“MisterBug… All this is MisterBug’s fault!”

Yelp. This time, it did it.

“Everyone, run and don’t let her touch you!” MisterBug commanded. 

As they did, he started to swing his yo-yo, ready to go after the villain.

“Who _ are _you?”

He turned around to see his usual self looking at him with a frown.

“I’m pretty sure you already know. We just have a few minutes apart.”

Adrien got closer and examined him. MisterBug could feel him- himself? Whatever, he could feel his time-twin being really confused.

“He’s right! I can feel it! He is you, Adrien!” Said Tikki.

“Okay… Now, that’s weird…” Said Adrien. 

“Yeah, I know… But we don’t have much time. You have to trust… Yourself, I guess. Oh, by the way. Father’s gonna call any minute now. He’s furious because I’m… _ You _’re not at the photoshoot.”

“But… This is more important than the shoot, right now.”

“I know, but I can handle it. You know I can, one MisterBug is enough for that. Now go, it won’t take long anyway!”

“You’re right… Okay, be careful!”

Adrien ran off, and MisterBug jumped right back in the scene.

“There’s two of them, now?” He asked.

“Yeah, seems like they multiply.”

He turned his head. He let out a relieved gasp. 

“Lady Noire! Oh, I’m so glad to see you…”

“Huh… Yeah, I’m sure. But don’t we have important business to attend?”

“You’re right. Whatever you do, do not let any of them touch you. Your life depends on it.”

“Which one? I have nine of them.”

He gave her a flat look. He usually loved her jokes, but after what happened, he didn’t find this one funny.

“I’m serious. The akumas are in her rollers. There’s no time to explain, now, let’s go!”

They started fighting them, being careful not to let them touch any of them. But the Timebreakers retreated.

“Let’s get full of their energy first, then, we take care of them.”

“Good idea, I want my watch back!”

As they started to skate away, the two heroes chased after them.

***

In a matter of minutes, Adrien was done taking his pictures. He escaped to the bathroom, letting Tikki out.

“Mission accomplished!” She said, happily.

“You mean first mission accomplished. The second one isn’t done yet. Tikki, spots on!”

Transformed, he headed back to the Trocadéro to see himself and Lady Noire in a bad posture. Without any second thought, he swung his yo-yo and managed to make both the villains trip. The heroes looked up.

“I thought you might need help!”

“Thank you!” Replied his other self.

He jumped next to Lady Noire, his other self on the other side of her.

“They are fast on their rollers, difficult to catch them.”  
“What if we just did that: catch them?”

“Two MisterBugs? Wow, am I a lucky cat to have such amazing partners or what?” She said excitedly.

The two MisterBugs looked at each other and simultaneously blushed before focusing again. This was no time to get shy: the fact the Timebreakers started to skate away proved it.

“She’s trying to go back in time again! Lucky charm!” They shouted at the same time.

Not one, but two objects appeared: a sail and a package, probably with gravel inside. 

“Lady Noire, do you think you can use your cataclysm to destroy not one, but two objects?” Asked one of the MisterBugs.

“Well, in theory… If I touch them with my hand at the same time… I should be able to, yes.”

“That’s exactly what we needed to hear. Would you mind luring them while we work on a trap?” Asked the other.

“No, that’s fine. Which direction?”

“This one. Oh, also, try dispersing the content of the package behind you. We have to stop the wheels from turning.”

“This way she trips. I get it. I’ll get to it!”

***

With that she ran off, getting down to business as she made the two Timebreakers chase her. From time to time, she emptied the package, leaving little rocks behind her. When she arrived in front of the sail stretched between two pillars with the help of the yo-yo strings, she used her staff to jump. But at this moment, the wheels of the rollerblades stopped, making both the villains fall right in the sail. Quickly, the MisterBugs wrapped the sail around them, making it impossible for the Timebreakers to move: she couldn’t touch anyone anymore.

“After you, m’lady.” They said.

“Such gentlemen. Why, thank you, my lords!”

Lady Noire called on her cataclysm and touch two of the rollerblades by extending her hand. As planned, they both crumbled to ashes, letting out two akumas. The MisterBugs purified them before releasing them.

“Miraculous MisterBug!” They shouted.

As everyone returned to their normal states, they bumped each other’s fists before they merged into one another. He turned his head and saw Lady Noire kneeling in front of Alix. He joined her and saw she was holding the pocketwatch, now fully intact.

“I believe this belongs to you.” She said, giving it to her.

“Wow! It’s like nothing happened! How did you do that?” She asked the heroes.

“It’s part of the mystery to never reveal our secrets. But you’re welcome, Alix.”

She bowed her head.

“I should never have asked anyone else to take care of it. This was my responsibility and mine only… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, what happened wasn’t your fault. Speaking of responsibilities… I have to go.”

“Leaving so soon? Oh well, I was just starting to enjoy the presence of two partners.”

“Is that so? Well, now, I’m afraid you’ll have to do with none for the moment. But don’t worry, you won’t miss me long enough.”

“You’re assuming I miss you when you’re gone? Cute. Well, I’m out. See ya!”

As they parted ways, MisterBug sighed.

“Someday, she’ll fall in love with me. I just know it.”

***

As Adrien got out of the bathroom, he headed for the car and gulped when he saw Nathalie waiting for him inside, a tablet in her hands. Soon enough, his father’s face appeared.

“Adrien, you disobeyed me. Where were you?”

“I was… I was with my class. There was something going on and I…”

He sighed.

“It doesn’t matter… I just wanted to bond with them. I never see them outside of school.”

His father looked at him and sighed as well.

“Next time, just talk to me about it, okay? And try to not do that when you have important stuff scheduled, got it?”

“Of… Of course! Thank you!”

“Very well. Now, you get back home. At the moment, I’m still grounding you for disobeying me.”

Yup, Adrien should have known this was still happening. He nodded, accepting his punishment. But he didn’t mind. In a way, he still managed to win a battle, and this was all that mattered at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up in line: Evillustrator!


	6. Evillustrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween Eve everyone!

The second Ms. Mendeleiev shouted Nathaniel’s name, every single student in the classroom jumped from their seat. Marinette herself almost had a heart attack as she turned her head over to the boy seated at the back of the classroom. 

“Still drawing in your book and not listening to what I’m saying?” She asked harshly. 

The poor boy stuttered, trying to mumble a sentence out of it. But instead, the teacher grabbed a paper sitting on his desk and shook it in front of his face.

“This is _ not _ how you’re going to get a better grade in my class!”

“Yeah, huh… I’m sorry.” He said, finally.

“Well, if you’re that uninterested in this class, maybe go wait in the principal’s office instead! Make sure to show him your drawings, then you’ll be sorry.”

Nathaniel grabbed all his stuff and started to head out of the class. But he tripped over a backpack and faceplanted in front of everyone, his book landing wide open. Marinette’s eyes widened upon seeing she was, indeed, the one being illustrated there, cuddling against a sort-of artist that looked similar to Nathaniel. She turned her head over Alya that looked at her with clear excitement on her face. As Ms. Mendeleiev helped Nathaniel get back up, Chloé snatched the book from the ground and spoke in a loud voice.

“Look what we’ve got here, Sabrina! He drew himself as if he was a superhero, can you believe that? And look who he is saving, that’s Marinette!”

She snickered and reported her attention over to Marinette.

“Looks like he is totally in love with you! I almost feel sorry…”

As Nathaniel’s face turned into a brighter shade of red, he snatched his book back from Chloé’s grasp”

“Give it back!”

“That’s enough, Nathaniel! Get out!” Said Ms. Mendeleiev. 

With his head hung low, he rushed out of the classroom, not giving another glance back. Ms. Mendeleiev clapped her hands together. 

“Okay, that’s quite enough! Let’s get back to topic. Now, I’ll give you your teams for the presentation that is due next class. You get groups of three and you can’t change. For the first group: Adrien, Nino and Alya…”

“You’re so lucky!” Whispered Marinette to her best friend.

“The second group will be made of Sabrina, Chloé and Marinette.”

Her eye twitched. _ What? _

“Wish I could say the same for you…” Said Alya while patting her on the back.

Marinette almost felt like Plagg was snickering inside of her purse. She really was the perfect match for the black cat miraculous after all. Her lack of luck truly was something that resembled a signature.

“Hum, excuse me Miss? Sabrina and I always work better together.”

“It’s a group presentation, not a presentation in pairs. Get over yourselves.”

The bell rang, announcing the end of the class. Everybody headed out and Marinette let out a long sigh.

“Don’t worry, I know this situation stinks, but I’ll do my best to talk to you-know-who about you.”

“You’re the best!” Said Marinette before crushing her into a hug. 

***

As the whole class was now in their study period of the day, Adrien, Alya and Nino were planning their work about the presentation. They already divided the sections and were currently in the library looking through books that could help them get the information they needed about the subject they had. 

As Adrien was picking up a book, Nino standing in the same alley a few meters apart, he heard Chloé’s voice.

“What do you _ mean _ you can’t work on the project for me?”

As he got curious, he continued to listen to the conversion just on the other side of the shelf without taking a look at the three girls.

“Because Marinette is _ right _ ! I am _ not _ your slave!” Countered Sabrina.

“That’s not exactly what I…”

“But Marinette didn’t buy a super stylish beret from Gabriel as I did! Maybe I can also let you borrow it sometimes…” 

“Wait, are you seriously trying to bribe her friendship with…”

“Oh my GOSH. It is so beautiful!”

Adrien sighed. He knew how Chloé could be difficult and at the moment, he truly felt bad for Marinette: being stuck with Chloé that didn’t wanted to pitch in the work and Sabrina that could easily be manipulated surely wasn’t an ideal situation. He really hoped she would find a way to make all of this work before the day of the presentation. 

As he was about to bring back the books he selected to the table, he got distracted by Chloé’s screams.

“My hair! Ah!”

As he took a glance towards the three girls, he saw a load of berets falling from nowhere to land on Chloé’s head. Then, they were replaced by a giant hair-dryer that started to follow Chloé as she started to run away, screaming. Adrien dropped the books he was holding and found a quiet spot in the library to transform into MisterBug. He jumped on the hair-dryer, tying it with his yo-yo as Chloé found herself cornered by the object.

“Go away! Hurry!” He said as he tried to control it. 

Chloé ran away, but MisterBug understood quickly that he was practically sitting on a mechanical bull. It became more and more difficult to contain the damage.

“Wow, even on a giant hair-dryer you manage to blow me away.” He heard Lady Noire say.

“Instead of teasing, would you mind helping?”

“Coming right up!”

She jumped and tried to hit the object, but missed it. MisterBug finally managed to wrap the string of the yo-yo around a pillar, making the hair-dryer turn around it and hitting a shelf on the way. Being down, Lady Noire finally made it disappear. The heroes turned their heads over to the akumatized victim. A boy with a tablet on his arm and a pen in his hand.

“You know, you’re a great artist, why don’t you use it for…”

“Not the time, Lady Noire!”

MisterBug chased after him, quickly followed by his lady. As they were catching up to the villain, he draw a wall in which the two heroes bumped. They grunted.

“Where did he go?” Asked Lady Noire.

“I don’t know… But I think I can guess where he’s headed.”

“Yeah… I’ve got a feeling too. Let’s go.”

In just a few minutes, they were now inside the Grand Paris hotel, in Chloé’s room. They were questionning her.

“We kind of have a feeling that this Evillustrator is after you in particular. Do you know why?”

She put down the paper on which she saw scribbling.

“Huh? Of course not! Everybody loves me!”

Lady Noire rolled her eyes, truly annoyed. MisterBug was too, as he knew what could have caused all of this, but he knew he would be the only one that could get through with these questions, so he kept his impartial face… Until Lady Noire scoffed.

“Sure, because you’re _ so _ adorable.” 

“I know right? I’m glad even a second-zone superhero like you sees it!”

“What did you-”

“Ladies, please. Let’s get back to the topic…”

“You know what? You’re totally right! Let’s take selfies the three of us!”

Chloé jumped and managed to take a picture with them. Lady Noire rolled her eyes and got away. 

“Well, it doesn’t look good for you two, but at least _ I’m _ beautiful! Come on, let’s take some again.”

Lady Noire got further away.

“Sorry, I’m kind of allergic to selfies.” She said dryly. 

“Oh, what a shame. What about you, MisterBug?”

“Huh, I guess I-”

Without further notice, she put her arm around his neck and gave him a peck on his cheek while taking the picture. Now satisfied, Chloé gushed about it. MisterBug headed over to his partner.

“Looks like we’ve got a fan. Maybe you shouldn’t act in such a dirty way…”

“Are you kidding me? The only thing this girl thinks about is herself! She wants this just so she’ll look good!”

“C’mon, m’lady. Why are you taking this so badly? Isn’t it a bit flattering to know we’ve got people that…”

“Okay, I can’t take any of this anymore! I’m leaving!”

She headed towards the French Window with her fists closed.

“What? You can’t just leave! What about Evillustrator? What if he comes to attack her?”

“Well, you can stay here if you want! But I’m going. Bye.”

“What do you mean “bye?” You can’t go, this is our job!”

“Now what? You’re going to force me to stay here even if I don’t want to?” She asked while turning towards him. 

“This isn’t about what we want right now! It is our duty to protect those in need! And at the moment, it means this girl!”

“Well, she doesn’t need the both of us to do that. So if you want to protect her, fine. But I’m not staying a second longer. Goodbye!”

She used her staff and jumped from roof to roof. MisterBug sighed while he watched her leave. 

What was _ that _ all about?

***

Marinette dropped her transformation as she landed on her bed and threw her purse away with a groan. 

“Ouch!”

“Oh, sorry Plagg. It’s just that…”

“Yeah, I get it. Chloé is an annoying brat. But still, it was nasty of you to leave your partner like that.”

Marinette scoffed.

“What? Now _ you’re _ the one trying to teach me what’s good and what’s not? Like you’re an example to follow!”

“I might have made mistakes in my whole life, but I’m still willing to listen to other people when it’s appropriate! And for now, it was your duty, as well as it was MisterBug’s, to protect Chloé! I might have destroyed many things in the past and made the dinosaurs extinct, but I would _ never _ back out from my duty to help and _ never _ leave my partner’s side while doing so.”

Marinette looked down. She hated to admit it, but her kwami was currently right. In her state of annoyance, she completely neglected her role. This wasn’t a heroic behavior at all. She gulped.

“Fine… You’re right. I’m sorry… Guess I just need to cool down a bit and regain my focus. Maybe I can even work on the presen- Oh no! Sabrina!”

She picked up her phone to notice several missed calls from one of her colleagues. 

“Yelp. Looks like your new best friend had a lot to say.” Said Plagg while gulping a piece of camembert.

Marinette handbanged her head against the cushion but rose it back up as she heard Plagg diving back in the purse. She then noticed the villain at her window, erasing it before he got inside her room. She gasped.

“You… You were the one at the library! What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you.” He said with a shy smile.

“O.. Kay? Why did you attack Chloé?”

“Because she’s mean and selfish! Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah… You kind of got a point here. Are… Are you going to attack me?”

He snickered.

“Of course not! You’re _ Marinette _! You’re so sweet, so pretty, so perfect! I would never hurt you!” 

She blinked.

“W-Wow! It’s so… Nice of you…” She said while shifting awkwardly. 

He chuckled, his hand on the back of his hand.

“I… I just wanted to ask you… Okay, so it’s my birthday today and I wanted to know if you… If you wanted to come at my party tonight?”

“Oh! Hum, actually… I had other plans for tonight… You see? I have to work on this presentation and I… I need to call my friend so we can get started and…”

“Please Marinette! There will be just you and me!”

Without continuing his sentence, he quickly gribbled something on his tablet and a piece of paper popped up. Evillustrator took it, got closer to Marinette before he kneeled and handed it to her. Carefully, she took it from him, eyes widening at the drawing.

“Wait, that’s… That’s me!” She gasped.

“Do you like it?”

She stared at it again. The drawing was quite simple, but it was beautiful. She was smiling, a cake was beside her and the akuma victim was also standing there. But she noticed the RSVP in the corner of the sheet.

“Huh… I love it! So much actually that I’ll be going to your party. I’m sure it will be fun!”

He sighed in relief, but Marinette didn’t stop there. She had to set up the field for the rescue. She couldn’t leave Nathaniel in such a state. She might not like him the way he did like her, but he was always the sweet boy. She had to bring him back. She had to save him. 

“On one condition though.”

“Everything you want!” He assured.

“You need to leave Chloé alone. I can’t stand violence.”

“Okay, I promise I’ll do it! Meet me the Archêvéché bridge near Notre-Dame when the sun is setting!”

He drew a jetpack on his back and flew away from her room. Marinette watched him go and let out an exhausted sigh as she seated down. Plagg got out.

“Have you not listened to any word I said? First, you let down your partner. Then… You ditch you duty completely so you can go and have fun with a super villain? What are you thinking?”

“Chill out Plagg. This is all part of a plan, alright. It’s just that it’s clear now that Nath has feelings for me… So… We just need Marinette to set up the mood before Lady Noire lets out her rage.”

“Okay, and how are you planning to be there as Marinette while letting Lady Noire out after him? Your power is destruction, not multiplication!”

“Can you simply trust my gut for once? Let’s simply start by inviting a particular insect to _ spot _ the party. Plagg, claws out!”

  


***

MisterBug was still standing by the French window, looking outside hoping Lady Noire would come to her senses while trying to ignore Chloé’s whines about doing her homework. He was thinking about the fight they had earlier. Was he too hard on his partner? He didn’t want her to believe he was schooling her as if he knew any better. They were equals, he wasn’t her boss. He surely wouldn’t act like it. 

“MisterBug? By any chance… Are you any good in physics?” Asked Chloé while cuddling against his arm.

“I sure am. It’s my favourite subject. Do you need any hel-”

“That’s perfect!”

She dragged him to the armchair and made him sit before she handed him her a yellow binder. Then, she ran off to a lounge chair and opened up a magazine.

“Make sure to write something spotless for my presentation! Oh, see? I’ve made a play on words! I’m so funny!” She said before focusing on her magazine.

“Yeah, so funny.” He grunted.

As he was about to look at it, the bugphone rang. Knowing that it could only be one person, he picked it up before heading out on the terrace.

“So, you finally came back to your senses?” He said.

“Look… I’m sorry for my previous behavior. It wasn’t fair of me to do so… So first of all, I would like to apologize. I’m sorry I left, MisterBug. It won’t happen again and I understand if you’re mad at me.”

He breathed a bit before he smiled.

“It’s okay, my lady. We all have our limits. Maybe you simply needed a break. I apologize too for how I reacted. Are you on your way back?”

“Huh… About that...You can actually leave right now. You have to protect this girl. Just a sec, I’m sending your her picture. There it is!”

MisterBug’s eyes widened at the sight of Marinette, his classmate.

“Her name is Marinette. Cute, isn’t she? Anyway. Evillustrator is in love with her and promised to leave Chloé alone if Marinette came to his party tonight.”

At this moment, Chloé shook her hand in front of MisterBug’s eyes, trying to get him back to her homework. Instead, he looked away to focus on the call. 

“I was thinking you could use this distraction to disarm him.”

MisterBug pushed Chloé back inside.

“Okay… But what about you? Where will you be?”

“Oh! I… I’m currently on an important mission on my own. I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can. Think you can manage without me?”

He puffed his chest.

“Well, of course! Who do you think I am?”

They hung up and MisterBug briefly headed back inside Chloé’s bedroom to tell her she wasn’t at risk anymore before he swung out of the hotel. Knowing where Marinette lived, he headed there immediately. Landing on the street, he saw her and Sabrina.

“In fact, you’re exactly like her! I can’t believe I wasted my afternoon to finish your geography homework…”

Sabrina snatched the document back and headed off as Marinette tried to stop her.

“Wow, this didn’t seem to go too well.” He commented while he approached her.

“Yeah… Tell me about it.”

He smiled slightly.

“I don’t think we’ve had the occasion to meet, before. I’m MisterBug.”

He kneeled and kissed the back of her hand. She chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, I know! You’re always saving Paris! And I’m… Marinette! What… What are you doing in this neighborhood?”

“Properly inviting you to tonight’s ball, if you’d have me, of course! I’m thinking on jumping in if things get ugly, which I’m sure they won’t as such an amazing princess as you will be there.”

She smiled widely.

“Wow… Now I’m _ truly _ relieved!”

“Yes, don’t worry. I got your safety as my number one priority. But I might still need help. So would you like to be my partner for tonight’s dance?”

“What about Lady Noire? Aren’t you two a duo?” She said while turning away from him.

“Unfortunately, she already has plans for tonight so… you’ll get to be my lady.”

Her shoulders relaxed and she turned back to him with an excited grin on her face. But it faded in a second as she crossed her arms.

“So, I’m your second choice then.”

“Well… It’s not in a bad…”

“I’m messing with you! MisterBug and me saving Paris? It’s a dream come true! What do I have to do?”

“You’ll just have to make sure to get him away from his pen. I’ll be taking care of the rest, alright?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Well then, I’ll see you tonight.”

He shot a wink in her way before leaping off. While doing so, he thought he could still hear her giggle drumming inside his ears. 

***

Marinette headed as promised to the meeting spot. She looked for the villain and finally saw him, seated on top of a boat. As she got closer, she heard him talk while holding his wrist.

“Fine! I’ll do it! I promise!”

She frowned and witness him sigh before picking back his pen. This is when she decided it was time to let him know she was there.

“Happy birthday.” She simply said.

Evillustrator let out a surprised gasp before turning to her. He smiled.

“Marinette! You’re here!”

“As I told you I’d be. I’m sorry. I don’t have anything for you…”

“It’s okay! Your presence is all I need. Come, I’ll show you the boat.”

He helped her get on it and showed her everything.

“So… Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful.” She answered.

“Well, it’s not over! I can… Oh come on! Not now!” He growled while the moon got covered by the clouds. 

Marinette frowned, her mouth slightly opened due to the surprise she felt because of his sudden annoyance. The villain seemed to notice it.

“Sorry, it’s just that I have trouble drawing with poor lighting… Ah, much better!” He said as he drew a ball of light.

As the boat went on, sailing on the Seine. The two of them seated as Evillustrator played music when he drew music notes on the tablet. For a while, Marinette really was amazed by all this atmosphere, in awe of what Evillustrator prepared just for her. But she finally snapped back to reality as she saw MisterBug running on the roofs of the buildings near the river.

“You know… You’re really talented. Why do you want to use your capacities to do evil?”

“I don’t want to do evil. I just want to give Chloé what she deserves. But… I promised you I wouldn’t, so I won’t since you also kept your promise.”

Marinette smiled. So there was still good inside him. She had to find a way to get it out.

“You know… I also draw in my lost time. Not as well as you do, but…”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure you do great!”

“Well…”

She briefly looked back to see that MisterBug finally got on the boat. He was ready to jump at any moment now.

“As I didn’t get you anything… Maybe I can correct that by drawing you something. What do you say? Can I borrow your pen?”

Marinette put her fingers on it. Evillustrator gasped and she simply smiled, trying her best to make it seem as there wasn’t another thing to it.

“Hum… Wait a sec, I just need to draw something real quick.”

The panic rose up. She had to do something now or the chance would be gone.

“No. I’m keeping it. MisterBug, you’re up!” She said, running away with the pen still in her hand.

***

The signal given, he threw the yo-yo and the string enveloped the villain’s wrist.

“What? Marinette… You… You’re working with him? I can’t… I thought you _ loved _ me! But now I realize you’re exactly like Chloé! Selfish!”

“Oh, come on now! Why does everybody compare me to Chloé today? I can’t-”

Evillustrator didn’t wait any longer to use his arm to drag MisterBug on the boat. He landed on Marinette, taking her down with him and making her drop the pen. Evillustrator ran and snatched it before he jumped on the ball he previously drew. As MisterBug got off Marinette and tried to attack him once more, a box appeared and fell over them both, trapping them inside.

“And of course, my promise isn’t valid anymore. I’ll go pay her a visit right away!”

The villain jumped out of the boat and as he did, MisterBug noticed they got lower and lower. His eyes widened. The boat was sinking. He tried to hit the box, but it wouldn’t break. 

“I have no other choice. Luck-”

“Wait! Are you sure you want to use it right now? There must be another way!”

“Probably. But there isn’t enough time. Your safety is primordial right now. I need to get you back to shore. Lucky charm!”

In a matter of seconds, an ice ax appeared in his hands.

“Stay back, I don’t want to hit you by accident.”

She stepped back as far as she could and MisterBug began to hit the surface. After the fifth hit, the box finally cracked and broke, letting them out. He put his arm around Marinette’s waist.

“Hey, what are you-”

“Hold tight and don’t let go!”

Understanding the message, she put her arms around him as he swung his yo-yo and they lept in the air. She only let go of him when her feet were back on the ground.

“Well, this was a lovely night, but I’m afraid I’ll have to cut it short. Will you be okay heading back home by yourself?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me. You have important stuff to do. Good luck.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it.”

And with this, he headed back to the Grand Paris, chasing Evillustrator.

***

When Lady Noire arrived on the scene, it was to witness Chloé being chased by a giant high heel. Not wasting any more seconds, she hit it with her staff, making it vanish almost instantly.

“You know, when walking around in heels, you have to make sure to have a proper balance. Should’ve thought of that before drawing one, hum?”

Evillustrator groaned. MisterBug arrived.

“Glad to see you again, m’lady.”

“Likewise, sir.”

“Well… Well… Looks like it’s time for the fight between the good guys and the bad guy. But I promise you, if you’d known her, you wouldn’t try so hard to save her! _ She’s _ the real villain here!”

“What? This is complete nonsense!”

As Evillustrator drew fists heading to hit Chloé, the two heroes knocked them off. Lady Noire found herself hit by one of them and hit the wall. While MisterBug accidentally hit out a lamp, Lady Noire gasped.

“MisterBug! He can’t draw in the dark! Let me take care of it, Cataclysm!”

She ran towards the switch, but as she was about to touch it, the villain erased it. He laughed. 

“It’s not so easy. But for now, let me reward you with a present every cat enjoys.”

He drew a chain in which, at the end, was a heavy ball, on her ankle.

“And look what happens when you get in my way!”

He started to erase the floor and Lady Noire found herself hanging with one hand, unable to use the other as it would destroy what she was holding to.

“A little hand here?” She asked.

At the same moment, she heard MisterBug’s earrings beeping. After all, he used his Lucky Charm once, to save her. He didn’t have much time left. She had to do something. She let him down once, she wouldn’t make this mistake again. She frantically looked around her before she brought a hand to the chain, catching the ball attached to it before it fell out of her reach.

“Eyes on target!”

He nodded and starting to spin his yo-yo. With all her strength, she threw the ball up and made it hit the chandelier. As it crumbled down, darkening the room considerably, Evillustrator had no time to get closer to a light before MisterBug started to run, threw the yo-yo and wrap the villain in the string. 

“I’ll take that if you mind.” He said before taking the pen.

With two fingers, he snapped it in two pieces, letting the akuma out. He captured it and freed it before fixing everything back to normal. The heroes fists bumped.

“I would love to stay and chat a bit more, but I really have to go! Bye now!”

He swung out of the hotel. Lady Noire chuckled and headed to the victim, taking him back home.

***

At school the next morning, everything was back to normal. Alya interviewed Chloé further away and Sabrina confronted Marinette.

“Look, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to work yesterday… But I promise you I-”

“Don’t bother. I’ll be doing the work with Chloé.”

“You mean you’ll do the work?”

“Of course! She can’t do it after all she’s been through!”

Marinette rolled her eyes as Sabrina headed to see her so-called best friend. She closed her locker.

“Hey, Marinette.”

“Ah! Adrien… Huh…”

He leaned onto the lockers.

“I heard about your adventures with MisterBug last night. You weren’t too scared, right?”

“Me? N-No! You’re dashing- I mean! You’re kidding! He he he…” She said.

“Okay? But what did you think of him? Is he great?”

“Yeah… Not as great and handsome as you but… Huh! Yeah, he was amazing!”

He frowned, but relaxed and slightly smiled. Then he touched her shoulder before heading out. She sighed. 

“Plagg, do you think it’s gross if I stop washing my jacket from now on because Adrien touched it?”

“Well, camembert as more bacterias and I still love it.”

“Good answer.”


	7. Copycat

“Okay, but seriously. How is it  _ that _ hard to simply ask him to the movies? You have no problem asking anyone else!”

Marinette gave Plagg a flat look. He continued to eat his camembert. 

“Maybe… But they’re not Adrien. I can’t help it! When I’m around him, I…”

“No need to repeat yourself, I’ve witnessed it so many times already.”

She sighed.

“I know it must feel annoying. But he’s just so… perfect! Everytime I see him, I get butterflies…”

“Holy cheese, all this lovey-dovey-ness is making me sick. Yuck!”

Marinette chuckled.

“Are you sure that’s not the fact you eat too much of this?”

“How dare you insinuate that this marvelous thing is the one responsible in making me sick?”

“Well, what is it, then? Are you really that repulsed by the thought of love?”

“Of course not! I know I love camembert.”

“For that, you do. I hear you say it at least three times a day.”

“See? If I can do it, why can’t you?”

“First of all, cheese is not a living-being. Second, because I can’t help feeling giddy everytime I see Adrien!”

“Well, then, you have it.”

“What?”

“If seeing him makes you stutter when you try to talk to him, the only way to do so without any hesitation is by not seeing him. You know, like when you’re on the phone?”

Her eyes widened.

“Plagg, you just gave me the greatest idea ever! How haven’t I thought of it before! You’re a genius!”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. You’re welcome.”

“Okay, I’ll call Alya. Surely, she has his phone number since they worked together in Physics class!”

***

  
  


Adrien was in his fencing class, against an opponent. Not sure of the time, he quickly won the match before taking off his mask.

“I need to drink water. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Adrien headed out of the courtyard and headed to the locker room, where he opened up his own. There, he opened up his bag.

“Ready to go, Tikki?”

“Sure thing! A statue made for Lady Noire and you, this is such an honor! I’m really excited to see what it looks like. And I’m proud of the both of you for all the hard work you have done until now.”

“So am I! I’m sure it will look amazing. So, Tikki…”

“Wait, before I forget. Someone left you a vocal message on your phone. It surprised me.”

“Oh, okay. Let me see it… Huh, I don’t know this number. Well, too bad, I’ll see it after, it shouldn’t be impo- Oh no, we’re late! No time to waste, ready to transform me?”

“Just say the words, Adrien!”

“Tikki, spots on!”

Now being MisterBug, he jumped out the window before he finally arrived in Place des Vosges, where the inauguration was held. Immediately, people started to shout his name and he greeted the crowd politely before heading off to shake the mayor’s hand. He noticed Lady Noire wasn’t present. Probably late too. 

“Sorry, I know I’m a bit late. I was held off.”

“No trouble done here, MisterBug. Allow me to introduce you to Théo Barbot, the sculptor.”

“It’s an honor.”

“For me as well, Mr. Barbot. I’m really honored that such an amazing artist got to represent my lady and I. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, before we start… Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Come over here, sis’!”

Behind the sculptor a girl slowly walked up to them, her cheeks red as she was holding something tightly. She must have been his age, maybe a year younger.

“So, this is my sister, Théa. She…”

“I’m such a BIG fan, MisterBug! I love you so much!”

Without any notice, she jumped on him and wrapped his body in a bear hug. Initially startled, he returned it, patting her back.

“Nice to meet you, Théa.”

The ceremony started even if Lady Noire was a no-show. The unveiling of the sculpture was impressive. It looked even better than MisterBug could have possibly thought. He was throwing his yo-yo, but it circled them, and Lady Noire was above him, using her partner’s shoulder to jump while she held her staff in one hand. He couldn’t help but applaud with the rest of the crowd. That being done, he gave a speech on his and Lady Noire’s behalf, thanking everyone for their continual support and trust they put in them. After a short period of questions (where he also made sure to answer to Alya that he spotted in the crowd), everyone left.

“MisterBug! Wait… I was wondering… Could I have an autograph on this photo of you?” Asked Théa.

“Sure. Here you go.”

“Thanks! Also… I was wondering… I know it’s silly, but… I really look up to you and I… I was wondering… Maybe we can… Hang out, sometime?”

“You want to hang out with me?” He asked, baffled.

“Well… Yeah! I like you a lot and…”

MisterBug’s eyes widened. Of course, this kind of situation was bound to happen at one point or another. He was already aware that many people had his civilian self as their celebrity crush. But Théa might be the first one to confirm it with his super hero self. He gave her a sad smile.

“Look, I’m really flattered and I’m sure you’re an amazing girl. I really do. But the truth is… Not only this would put you in danger, but I’m going to be honest with you and tell you that I already have feelings for another girl.” He said while looking up to Lady Noire’s sculpture above his own. 

“W-What? You… You like someone? Who…”

“You probably shouldn’t try to search for it, trust me. Again… I’m sorry. Have a nice day, alright?”

With a quick pat on her shoulder, he headed out, heart heavy. 

***

This was such a bad idea. She shouldn’t even be there at the moment, but what choice did she have? She couldn’t just pretend like the vocal message was “a joke” in front of him! No, she had to erase the message before Adrien got to it. It was so embarrassing. She didn’t know it was still recording. In her panic, she sent it. She called him  _ hot stuff.  _ Oh boy. 

Now being left alone as Alya headed to the statue’ reveal ceremony (where she was also supposed to be, only not in her civilian form), Marinette sneaked inside her school as students were currently entirely focused on their attacks. No one even noticed her. She tip-toed until she was in front of Adrien’s locker. 

“Oh shoot, it’s locked!”

“Huh, hello?”

Plagg flew through it and opened it for her.

“C’mon, hurry up, their training is almost done.”

In her panic, she opened Adrien’s bag, grabbed his phone and headed out of the locker’s room, running. In a few minutes, she was already back inside her room, trying to figure out his code.

“I just want to erase the message, how can that be so difficult?” She asked out loud.

“Y’know, this is usually done as a preventive measure just in case a thief wants to get in. Which is what you are, at the moment.” Plagg pointed out.

“Hey, I’m not a thief! I had no choice. I just need to erase the message and… Wah!”

The phone rang. More precisely “Home” was calling.

“Oh no! It’s him! He’s looking for his phone!” She panicked.

“Ha. Figures.” The kwami said, snickering. 

She gasped.

“What if he activates the GPS and figures out where his phone is? Oh no, it would trace it back to me, the police would arrest me and…”

“Kid, relax. I’m pretty much sure the police has better things to handle than this sort of situation. Look, just focus on erasing the message. This is why you took this for in the first place, remember?”

“Yeah… You’re right. I need to erase the message.”

“And if that doesn’t work out… I could still eat the phone.”

“What?”

“I’m just kidding, Marinette. Now, come on, get this over with.”

Marinette continued to try to get inside the phone. But as she was doing so, her own rang: Alya was calling. She picked it up.

“Problem solved?”

“Almost! Well… I didn’t erase the message, but I’m working on it…”   
  
“What? You  _ stole _ his phone?” 

“Yes. I mean! No! I will give it back as soon as it’s done. By the way, where are you? I wouldn’t mind a helping hand…”

“Sorry, but I have more important business to attend at the Louvre right now. I’m trying to get informations about Lady Noire’s theft.”

“Huh? Someone stole Lady Noire?”

“Girl, no! How could that even be possible? No, do you not know? Lady Noire stole the Mona Lisa painting!”

Marinette’s eyes widened.

“In daylight! Can you believe that? Anyway, MisterBug is probably on his way as we speak and I don’t want to miss it. It’s all over the news if you want to see, but I really can’t stay that long. I’ll be coming over as soon as it’s over, alright?”

“Yeah… Okay. see you later.”

They hung up and immediately, Marinette started looking for what Alya told her. Her eyes widened with the videos. 

“Plagg… We can both agree that’s not me, right?”

“Yup. Definitely not you. You haven’t transformed all day.”

“My point exactly. We have to do something. I can’t let everyone believe that I’m a thief! I would never steal anything!”

“Oh, really? You wouldn’t steal anything? Ever?”

“Hey! That’s… That’s not the same thing!”

“Is it now?”

“Come on, I don’t have time for that. Plagg, claws out!”

As she transformed, she headed out, straight to the museum.

***

MisterBug landed beside the mayor, looking at the police barricade surrounding the museum’s glass pyramid. He learned about the situation while he was headed to the school, trying to look after his phone. Upon seeing the videos, he knew something was off. Lady Noire was cocky and a tease, but she would never steal something so valorous. He had to get to the bottom of this. 

“Mr. Bourgeois. Believe me, this is impossible. Lady Noire is not a thief!” He pleaded.

“Well, the cat is under lock and key, MisterBug.” Said officer Raincomprix.

“She is innocent! Let me see her!”

“No. For this, you’d better leave the professionals handle it.”

_ Professionals? Right. Because you were so professional two days ago when you were Rogercop the tyrant.  _ He wanted to say.

The next moment, his walkie-talkie beeped.

“Lady Noire is escaping!” Shouted one of the police agents. 

With this, MisterBug rushed inside the museum, quickly followed by officer Raincomprix. Like him he gasped when he saw the many agents lying on the floor, mumbling their pain.

“So, if she’s innocent, why did she ran away?”

“Wouldn’t you have done the same thing if you were made prisoner while you knew you weren’t the culprit?” He countered.

Officer Raincomprix ignored him and called for backup. At the same moment, the bugphone rang, so MisterBug distanced himself to take the call. He took off, wanting to get out of the museum.

“Lady Noire! What’s happening?”

“I don’t know! But I’m innocent! You trust me, right Bugaboy?”

“Could you stop fooling around for a moment and be serious! You’re in a really bad position right now!”

“I know, I know... I tend to make lame jokes when I'm nervous... But don’t worry. I’m going to chase after the real culprit and bring him back to justice-”

She was caught off by the sound of a helicopter nearby. The call ended and MisterBug got outside just in time to witness his lady being chased by the flying engine. Without further notice, he took off. If Lady Noire told him that she didn’t do it, he believed her. And she needed help to clear her name. He would gladly oblige and be the assistance she needed. 

***

Marinette managed to escape the police and hid while Plagg was eating. She breathed heavily.

“Clearly an akumatized villain.” Said the kwami while he continued to chew.

“I believe so too… I guess I should have come to the unveiling after all… Now, someone is mad at me for a reason I can’t comprehend.”

“At least, you’ve learned your lesson now: you better learn to manage your time properly.”

“Can’t say you’re wrong…  _ This _ time. Are you done, now?”

“I should be okay.”

“You know the drill. Plagg, claws out!”

Transformed, she took out her staff. She didn’t have any clue, but she thought that by seeing the sculptor, maybe she could get some answers. So after finding his address, she headed to the workshop. She jumped from roof to roof before landing over the exact location. She saw the drawings pinned to the wall and smiled.

“There it is. I’d better call my best man to get on the case as well.”

She slipped inside the workshop and called MisterBug. He replied quickly.

“Lady Noire! Where are you?”

“An art workshop. Trying to get some clues about this investigation.”

“Okay… And that’s supposed to help me know where you are?”

“Well, if you have something that resembles to a brain, you’d know where to look for me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I get done with the questions, okay?”

“Wait don’t-”

She hung up and frowned upon seeing an envelope with a cat’s paw on it. It was put on a box. She picked up the envelope, opened it and read the sentence out loud.

“The cat’s in the bag?”

Upon saying that, the box opened up and she saw chains popping out. She jumped out of the way, but the chains still managed to grab her ankles, making her trip on the floor. She got up on her feet and tried to jump as high as she could in an attempt to break them without using her cataclysm. She might need it later. She tripped yet again, looking up when she heard footsteps.

“Well, well… I can’t believe  _ you’re _ supposed to be the cat’s meow.”

Lady Noire rose up again and was now face to face to an identical copy of herself. She was the real culprit.

“At least I’m not an alley cat who steals paintings to ruin someone else’s reputation.”

The fake Lady Noire scoffed.

“You really don’t impress much. Now, let’s make a call, shall we?” She said, showing her two staffs.

“Hey, that’s mine! How did you even…”

The real staff rang and the Copycat smiled wickedly, picking up the call. 

“MisterBug! Hurry! I got hold on the Copycat! I’m at Théo Barbot’s workshop!”

“I’ll be there in thirty seconds!”

“No, MisterBug, it’s a tr-”

***

The Copycat hung up, with another wicked smile. 

“Woops, a bit too late. MisterBug is already on his way here. As I planned all along.”

“He will never be duped by you! He  _ knows _ me!” Claimed Lady Noire.

She was on edge. She was annoyed by the behavior of this victim. The Copycat held a picture of MisterBug. 

“Well, I know you enough to know that you don’t deserve to have his attention at all! And I’ll make him see it so he’ll be in love with me instead of you!”

“Wha- In love with me? What are you talki-”

_Oh_. There it was. This girl liked MisterBug. Then, a wicked idea came into Lady Noire’s mind.

“You can still try, but the heart doesn’t need eyes to see its  _ true _ love. You should work on your technique a bit longer, if you want my advice.”

“Why, you-”

She stopped talking, as she seemed to be listening to something. With a nod, she stuffed the picture in her boot. 

“Less talking, more picking jewelry out…”

Yet again, the Copycat made Lady Noire trip by using her staff. As she got over her, she brought her fingers to the ring, ready to slip it off her finger, but stopped upon hearing the yo-yo cut the wind. MisterBug landed in the room and ran towards them. Lady Noire let out a relieved sigh while her Copycat let out an excited gasp.

“There you are!”

MisterBug quickly caught to them. He stopped.

“Why… She really does look like you a lot.” He said. 

“Of course she does! She is my exact copy!” She whined. 

MisterBug frowned.

“Where is the akuma?”

“In her ring, of course. Now, I know it’s not great to take off a ring of a lady’s finger, but I can do it if you prefer.” Said the copy. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll do it. Thank you, my lady.”

“ _ My lady _ ? You called  _ her _ my lady? Are you serious? How can you call her that when  _ I’m _ your lady? Don’t fall for her tricks, I’m begging you!” Pleaded Lady Noire. 

“Wow, so desperate, am I right? Come on,  _ Lovebug _ , don’t make this harder.”

MisterBug frowned. Lady Noire gave him lots of nicknames. But Lovebug never made the cut. Why would she call him like that now, of all moments? 

“MisterBug… Please… Have I ever lied to you?”

The hero looked at the two of them. The one that was on her back gave him a pleading look while the one above was… Was she looking at him with loving eyes? She had a small smile tugged on her lips and stared at him with an adoring look. Now, that was odd. Lady Noire was a tease, but she would never give him this kind of look in this kind of situation. She was goofing around, but still got down to business when it was the moment. 

_ Have I ever lied to you? _

Something didn’t feel right. He had to test something. Without any second thought, he got closer to her face, smiling slightly.

“You know… I’m still very happy that you said yes.”

“Y-Yes? To what?” She asked.

“To our relationship pact… You know…”

“Oh, right! So we can get to be together and…”

“We never established any relationship pact… Copycat!”

He rose up, pointing at her. The real Lady Noire sighed in relief. The fake one let out a scandalized scoff.

“MisterBug! I  _ love _ you! I’m so much better than this… Than this alley cat!”

“Wow, recycling my choice of words? Very original of you.” Said Lady Noire in a flat tone. 

“You probably should’ve known better. Lady Noire might be a sly cat, but she would never lie to me like you did.”

“Thanks for your trust, but next time, maybe a better way to describe me?”

Lady Noire didn’t wait any longer to kick her Copycat with her feet, instantly getting back up. MisterBug got next to her. 

“If I can’t have you, no one else will! Cataclysm!”

“Wow, she even got the same powers as you?”

“Looks like it. I haven’t use mine yet.”

“Good, I might need it. Lucky Charm!”

As the yo-yo spun in the air, an object finally landed in his hands. 

“A picket ? What can I-”

The Copycat ran towards them and as she did, MisterBug threw his yo-yo towards her ankles. As she fell, she accidentally put her hand on the chains, now setting Lady Noire free. She smiled.

“Finally! This cat enjoys her freedom!”

“Glad I could help. Do you know where the akuma is?”

“The picture of you in her left boot. It has to be it.”

“Gotcha.”

With a nod, Lady Noire rushed towards her imitation to fight, but was expelled towards the wall. MisterBug jumped in the scene, but quickly had to retreat as he saw how strong she was in close battle. Upon seeing her hair, he finally understood the use of his picket. Meanwhile, the two Lady Noires fought against each other. Still having an eye set on his real partner’s ring as she hadn’t use her power, he finally let the picket fall in a vertical position. As planned, it slipped through the long braid of the Copycat before sinking into the floor. She growned upon having her hair pulled up.

“Ouch!”

“Yeah… It’s never fun to get your hair restrained by something.” 

Lady Noire slipped, managed to snatch the picture out of the boot and ripped it in her hands, letting the akuma fly away. However, MisterBug jumped down, swung the yo-yo and captured the akuma. He released it.

“Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous MisterBug!”

***

The duo pound it while Copycat returned to her normal self: it was Théa, the sculptor’s sister. MisterBug gasped upon seeing her: he had no idea how much he affected her by his rejection. Lady Noire put her hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you for recognizing me, MisterBug. I knew I could count on you.”

“No worries, m’lady. You’re too unique for that.”

“You bet. But you should probably talk to her. She might want some closure, don’t you think?”

“This way, no more obstacles for us?” 

She snorted.

“You wish. I’ll leave you to it.”

She jumped out and he watched her go, sighing. He walked and kneeled to the victim.

“Ow, what happened? MisterBug?” She asked when she looked up to him.

“Hey there. Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I guess… You know… You should tell her.”

He smiled slightly.

“Thank you for your advice, but let me give you one even if I shouldn’t have to. I’m sure you’re an amazing girl. You don’t have to pretend to be somebody else to get a guy to look at you. Just be yourself. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you for saving me. Pass the message to Lady Noire as well, alright?”

“I will. Do you have a way to get back home?”

“I’ll text my brother to pick me up, thank you.”

“Okay then. Have a nice day. Bye!”

With that, he headed towards his school, to continue looking after his cellphone.

***

“To listen to your messages, press 1, to erase your messages, press 2.”

It took a while, but with Alya’s help, Marinette finally managed to get to Adrien’s vocal box. She stared at the screen for a short moment before finally putting her finger on “2”.

“Your messages have been erased.”

“You know what? I think I’ll just tell him that I found his phone. It’s a good way to start a conversation, don’t you think?”

“I’m proud of you, girl. This is some huge improvement!”

“I’m trying!”

***

The next day, Adrien and Nino got inside the classroom, still talking about the missing cellphone case. After returning from the mission, Adrien continued to look after his phone but never managed to find it. As they seated at their usual spot, Adrien put his bag next to him. 

“Maybe it’s nothing dude. Maybe it fell somewhere and someone picked it up.”

“If that’s the case, the person who found it did so in the boy’s locker room. This is where I checked up my messages during my fencing lesson.”

Then, his bag fell to the ground, its content spilled on the flour.

“What? It was here this whole time? But I looked everywhere!” Adrien said, confused. 

“Sometimes this happens. You’re too focused on searching one thing that you totally miss it. Maybe you should simply clear your mind. How about we go to the movies after school?”

“Yeah, sure!”

“Hey guys! Mind if we join too?” Asked Alya behind them.

The boys turned over to Alya and Marinette.

“Sure, would be rad!” Replied Nino.

Adrien smiled up to them and thought he could hear Marinette let out a small excited squeal, but paid it no mind as the bell rang, starting their day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case there are any questions as if why Théo isn't the akumatized one in this chapter.
> 
> -No, this has nothing to do with him possibly not being part of the LGBTQ+ community. I simply wanted to keep the balance of two people of the same sex pretending to be one entity (ex: in the original, two boys claiming to be Chat Noir and now, two girls claiming they're Lady Noire)  
-I still have the feeling Théo is an adult and since they're 13 and 14, I still find it a bit uncomfortable to portray an attraction. So, a younger character still related to him in a way (with the most original name in the whole world, I know)
> 
> Anyway, next chapter coming: Dark Cupid!


	8. Dark Cupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's me again with a new update! Now, let's see how Dark Cupid goes. Enjoy!

Miss Bustier was talking about the dimension of love in fairytails. Having already been across this subject when he was still homeschooled by Nathalie, Adrien used the occasion to write about his own feelings. While he was writing, or rather scribbling, a poem expressing his feelings for Lady Noire, he was still listening to what his teacher said: after all, he was more an auditive kind of person than a visual one. So while he tried, cut out some words, he had no problems comprehending today’s lesson.

“Adrien, I hope that what you’re writing is related to my class. Just so I can be sure of it, can you repeat what I just said?”

He looked up to her for a moment. 

“Most of the time, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess because the only thing stronger than hate is love.”

The bell rang.

“Yes, that is correct, Adrien. For next class, don’t forget to finish reading Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault.”

Adrien stood still, trying to think of something before he growled. He made the paper into a ball, rose up from his seat and sighed while he threw away his lame attempt in declaring his love for Lady Noire in a poem. Looking down, he left the classroom without any other look. Now, he was feeling down: if he couldn’t even write about his feelings, how could he express them out loud?

“Hey, Adrien!”

He gasped, surprised to see Chloé and Sabrina coming towards him. The redhead had a poster in her hand.

“Would you mind signing this for me?” Asked the blonde.

He sighed once more.

“Chloé, you know that I hate signing autographs.”

Sure, on his first day (which was not so long ago), he signed many of them. But eventually, he stopped: he didn’t want his classmates to think of him as if he was any different. After a few days declining this request, it seemed to start working. 

“Oh, no! This is a petition against… Hamster cruelty. Do you see those hideous things they are forced to wear? It’s absolutely hideous!”

Adrien sighed. He wasn’t in the mood to argue against Chloé today. So, he simply took the pen she was handing him, signed his name and left. Maybe he will get inspired once he was finally home.

***

Ignoring Chloé and Sabrina’s laughs, Marinette let them go before she unrolled the paper ball Adrien made. No one in sight, Plagg also got out to float near Marinette’s head as she read the poem the boy made.

_ Your hair is black as the night and all your might is expressed through your piercing eyes _

_ I wonder who you are underneath that fearless disguise _

_ We see each other every single day and I really want to make you mine _

_ I know our love could be so true, please, will you be my Valentine? _

“Okay, that was  _ so _ cheesy. And I don’t mean in a good way!” Said Plagg near.

“Plagg.” She hissed.

“Okay, okay, sorry, no bad talk about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not… Whatever! Jet black hair with piercing eyes underneath a fearless disguise… Who could he be talking about?” She wondered.

“Let’s take a wild guess by elimination… Who, in this class, has jet black hair, piercing eyes and is occasionally fearless in front of him?”

“Well, Juleka is a bit shy…”

“Are you kidding me or are you really that blind?”

“Come on! He couldn’t possibly be talking about me! I’m always super shy around him!”

“Not always. Take the moments when you stand up to Chloé, for example. Adrien witnessed them as much as the others in the class.”

“Okay, but  _ still _ . Why would he talk about a disguise? It’s not like I come to school wearing some costume!”

“Listen, kid. This is poetry, alright? All of this is metaphorical. It simply means he feels like you’re holding something back and he wants to get past that. There, is that so complicated?” He asked, annoyance present in his tone.

“Wait… So… This is about  _ me _ ?” 

“Yup.”

Marinette couldn’t contain her shriek and excited jump. Plagg had to shush her so she wouldn’t get attention. Being past her excitement, Marinette joined Alya, a happy smile tugging her lips. As she was starting to head towards the bakery, Alya grabbed her hand and dragged her to Kim and Max. Kim was holding a heart-shaped box with a pretty brooch inside it.

“Wow, shiny! Is it for me?” Asked Alya in a teasing tone.

Kim looked at her with wide eyes. But Max intervened.

“Sorry Alya, but the future owner of it has already been determined.”

“Quiet! The walls have ears!” Said Kim.

“Wow! Our Kim is in love! This is an amazing scoop! But who is the lucky one?” 

“This is so great, Kim! And the gift is beautiful, I’m certain you’ll make someone really happy!” Said Marinette in an excited tone. 

“Sure, but she still needs to accept- Oh! But what if she refuses-”

“That’s impossible! She’s going to  _ love _ it! This isn’t questionable. So don’t be afraid, go out there and don’t have any regret!” 

With those encouraging words, Kim was hyped out. He took a deep breath. 

“Okay then, I’ll do it!”

“Perfect. Here is a map of the neighborhood. Her trajectory is highlighted in yellow and yours is in red. By running as fast as 16 km/h, you’ll have an advance of one minute and a half on her! You’ll meet her at this exact location, which happens to be the third most romantic place in the city. Go, go, go!” Shouted Max.

Kim sprinted away, thanking Marinette while he got away. 

“Wow, someone is good in giving advice, but not in following it.”

Marinette followed the spot Alya was pointing and saw Adrien getting inside his car. 

“You’re right. It’s time I tell him everything.”

“Really? You’re serious?”

“One hundred percent! It’s time I tell Adrien everything I feel about him! Well… I’m going to write it to him, but still... ”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!”

The two girls shared a handshake before running. Marinette had a letter to write.

***

“Don’t beat yourself up about this! I’m sure you’ll be able to tell her how special she is to you!”

Adrien looked up from his computer screen, full from archive pictures of Lady Noire from the BugNoire blog to see Tikki.

“So, you’re not going to tell me how unrealistic this is? I don’t even know who she really is...”

“Of course not! I know you have real feelings towards Lady Noire and I can understand why! You don’t need to know her real identity for that. I know for a fact that love is blind! And I think this is so romantic! I’m absolutely rooting for you!”

“Thank you, Tikki. I don’t know if I’d been able to gain the courage to do this if it wasn’t for your support.”

“Adrien, you are one of the most brave persons I have ever known. Of course you could do this even without me! I’m just an advantage to help you out with it! But I know for a fact you can do it!”

He smiled slightly before getting up and walked to his window. Then, he sighed, leaning against it. 

“Are you sad because you can’t finish your poem?”

“Yeah… I’m slightly bummed about it… But I don’t think I absolutely need it to confess to her. I am always honest with her after all. I simply need to walk up to her, look her straight in the eyes and say it: I love you.”

“Yes! That’s the spirit! Be forward, direct, and don’t hesitate! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Rejection, I guess.”

“Even if it happens at first, letting her know will cause this information to stay inside her mind and could make her open up to you and… Maybe give her own feelings a boost?”

Adrien slightly laughed.

“You’re a bit of a sadist. You don’t look like it, but you are.”

“The secret is to be very subtle about it. Also, as the kwami of creation, sadism wouldn’t exist without me.”

“Is there a kwami for that?”

“I doubt it.”

“Oh well, that’s too bad. It could have been fun.”

***

With candy apples in their hands, Marinette and Alya were standing in front of a mailbox. In her other hand, Marinette held the card she made for Adrien. At first, she didn’t know what to write to him, but by glancing at his poem, the idea popped up: what if she simply replied to it? And so, she did. Now, she simply had to slide it inside the mailbox. 

Her hand was shaking while doing so and her eyes squeezed shut. But as she pushed the card inside the box, she let out a relieved sigh.

“Yes! You did it!”

“I did it!”    


The two girls hugged, but were disturbed when both their phones vibrated. They picked it up.

“Chloé sent the whole class something? Wow, that’s new.” Said Alya.

“It’s weird.”

They opened the text and gasped at the same moment at the sight of poor Kim. He was kneeling while holding out the brooch, an empty chip bag on his head. He looked miserable. 

“What a pest! How could she do that to Kim?” Asked Alya.

“And  _ I _ was the one advising him to confess! How could I have known she was the girl?”

“Let’s hope Adrien will not react in the same way.”

“Oh no!”

Marinette tried to pick her card back up, then shook the mailbox to get it out.

“This is a disaster! What have I done?” She asked, panicking.

“Hey, calm down. It was a joke. Adrien would never… Wait, what is that?”

Marinette looked up to the sky to see what resembled a dark angel. He had a black bow in one of his hands and a quiver on his back. Marinette heard him gasp.

“Every heart needs to be broken!”

He shot an arrow and Alya received it, making her stumble a few steps back. Marinette gasped and jumped to her.

“Oh my Gosh, Alya! Are you okay?” She asked, worried.

Her friend didn’t reply, she simply pushed the candy apples on her shirt, making them stick.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Asked Marinette, trying to take them off.

“You  _ never _ were my best friend, you’re too lame! And I’m sure Adrien will die of laughter when he will read your pathetic poem about him!”

Alya ran off, laughing out loud.

“Alya! Wait! What did he do to her?”

Marinette took a better look at the new villain and saw something shining on his chest. Her eyes widened.

“No way… Kim?”

“He got akumatized. Looks like the boy doesn’t handle rejection pretty well.”

“This is horrible!”

He flew away as Marinette finally managed to take the sticky apples off her chest. She started to run. Behind a bench, she transformed into Lady Noire and chased after him. 

***

  
  


Having seen the villain fly by his window, Adrien didn’t wait any longer to transform into MisterBug before going after him. As he was about to shoot an arrow towards Chloé, MisterBug swung his yo-yo, making the arrow’s trajectory change and hitting a poster.

“MisterBug.”

“Kim, stop!” He said as he recognized his classmate. 

“I’m not Kim. I’m Dark Cupid. And no one can stop me! If I can’t have love, then no one else can!”

MisterBug stopped swinging his yo-yo.

“Okay, I get it. What Chloé did was uncool. But that doesn’t mean you can take out all the love from everyone!”

“Of course I can! And I won’t stop until I have broken every single heart in this city! So you’d better say goodbye to the ones you love, because from now on, you’ll only hate them!”

He started firing his arrows at him, but MisterBug spun his yo-yo to shield him while he tried to get cover. He managed to do so when he found himself really hanging on from a roof.

“Well, nice of you to drop by, kind sir!”

He looked down and smiled widely when he saw Lady Noire standing on her staff, stuck in the wall. He got down to her. The villain could wait, what he had to say couldn’t. 

“My lady, I’m so happy to see you! I really need to tell you something.” He said, getting closer.

“Are you sure this is the right time? Because Dark Cu-”

He put his arm around her waist to bring her closer and shushed her. 

“I promised myself I’d tell you as soon as I saw you. And for now, Dark Cupid doesn’t know we’re here, so there’s no better moment.”

She looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly opened while he smiled in a content way. This was it. This was the moment. 

“Lady Noire, I… I lo- LOOK OUT!”

In a swift move, he hugged her tight and turned them. In a second, MisterBug felt something hit his back.

Lady Noire felt the impact on her partner’s back and gasped.

“MisterBug!” She said, simply shocked.

“Lady Noire… I… I… I  _ hate _ you.”

He tightened his grip around her.

“MisterBug… You’re… You’re holding me too tight!” She complained.

She tried to get out of his grasp, but he just held her even tighter.

“I don’t love you Lady Noire, I  _ never _ did! You’re  _ nothing _ to me, I hate you!”

She stomped on his foot, deconcentrating him long enough so she could finally escape him. She dropped to the ground, attaching her staff on her side and started to run away as MisterBug was still a bit knock-out from the impact he made when he hit the ground after the lack of support under his feet. 

MisterBug groaned, getting back up on his feet and saw Dark Cupid standing right in front of him.

“I can help you destroy Lady Noire if you want. You’ll just have to give me her Miraculous in exchange!”

MisterBug looked at the villain, taking in consideration what he offered, and smiled.

“I want nothing more than her defeat. I’ll help you, I have no problem with that.”

He smiled wickedly and held out his hand. The two new allies shook them, making their contract official. The chase for Lady Noire was now started. 

***

Seeking a temporary shelter, Lady Noire rushed inside the first place she saw: and now, it was the Grand Paris hotel. As she got inside, two people got up: Chloé and Sabrina.  _ Oh great.  _

“Lady Noire? What took you so long?” Asked the blonde. 

“You have to hide! Your friend was akumatized into Dark Cupid and I don’t know what he’d do to you if he found you!”

“Me? Why would this idiot be mad after  _ me _ ?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.” She said ironically.

Chloé used this short moment to put her arm around Lady Noire’s shoulders.

“Oh, it’s because of this! He must have seen it and became jealous.”

Lady Noire gasped at the sight of the poster out on the sidewalk. It was Adrien and he signed the right bottom corner.

“This is Adrien, a cute boy in my class. He’s super rich and of course, totally in love with me.”

“Hey, is it moving?” Asked Sabrina.

It was. Lady Noire turned her staff in her hands quickly as Dark Cupid sprung up and started firing more arrows. In an expert move, Lady Noire managed to get to the door while carrying Chloé and let her down.

“Run!” She told her as MisterBug got in front of her.

“Not so fast,  _ my lady _ .”

“MisterBug, snap out of it! I don’t want to fight you! We’re partners, we’re friends-”

“Friends?  _ Us _ ? You’re such a fool! And all this kindness of yours, it’s  _ so _ annoying! We were never friends and we will never be!”

He swung his yo-yo in her way, but she leaped high to skip it. As she got into a roof, he chased after her.

“Focus, focus! I have to do something… Ugh, this isn’t my place! Why did he have to take the hit instead of me! Woh!”

She tripped when the string of the yo-yo wrapped around her ankles. He marched over to her. She brought up her staff to block him from striking.

“Why do you have so much hate in you?”

“Because hate is stronger than everything!” He answered. 

“No, love is the strongest!”

Then, her eyes widened in realisation as she recalled Miss Bustier’s lesson earlier today.

_ Usually, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess. _

_ Because love is stronger than hate!  _

Love. That was it. The opposite of hate, just like she was the opposite of MisterBug. The opposites attracts. And because MisterBug was her friend, she loved him. She could save him.

“Less talking, more fighting! Come on, get up!”

He let her ankles go and took a step back, his yo-yo spinning behind him, ready to attack at any moment. But instead of getting in a defensive position, Lady Noire simply smiled.

“I have a better idea, actually.”

She started to walk up to him, her staff attached to her side. As she got closer, MisterBug let out a confused sound before gradually stepping back.

“Oh, come on, my lord. Don’t be shy, give me a little kiss!”

As she drew her lips closer, he jumped out of the way, letting out a disgusted shriek.

“Ew, what are those manners? Urgh!”

As she tried to get closer to him, he ran off. She sighed.

“Hey, no, come back here!”

***

MisterBug ran away from her as fast as possible. There was absolutely  _ no way _ that he would let her lips touch him. This thought alone brought shivers in his whole body. A kiss? From the person he hated the most? Disgusting. 

In a way he couldn’t understand, she made him trip with her staff and managed to trap him upside down in the string of his own yo-yo. He moved, trying to get out as Lady Noire landed just in front of him. 

“Let me go!” He growled.

“As soon as we get this over with.”

She got closer to him, her lips trying to reach his, but he dodged. She groaned.

“C’mon, man! I don’t want to do this either, but I’ve got no other choice! Just hold still!”

“No!”

She sighed, annoyed and made him stop by holding his nose. She breathed out.

“Okay, here goes nothing…”

His eyes widened the closer she got. He didn’t want this, but at the moment, he was totally at her mercy. Fearing the worst, he closed his eyes tight, feeling her breath creeping closer and closer. As their lips were about to touch, Lady Noire jumped away, letting MisterBug fall on his head.

“Ow!”

He looked up and saw why she let him go: his accomplice was firing her way. MisterBug smiled as he joined his partner, eyeing the enemy taking cover behind a tree. 

“How are you going to fight us both, now?” He asked while fistbumping Dark Cupid. 

The next moment, he called for his Lucky Charm. 

***

Lady Noire watched the object fall into her corrupted partner’s hands. It was a candy apple. 

“Must be for after I defeat you, so I can savor my victory.”

Lady Noire’s eyes widened at the sight of the Lucky Charm. She had an idea how to use it, but it was odd, like it wasn’t her place to do so. Unless…

Unless this Lucky Charm was for  _ her _ to use? Was that even possible? 

She eyed the place she was in and spotted three things: the fountain, her own hand and the strap on Dark Cupid’s chest. Now, the plan was set. She simply had to find a way to snatch the candy apple from her partner. 

She got out of her cover, her staff in one hand and pressed on a button to make it longer. In his surprise, MisterBug jumped out of the way, losing his grip on the apple. Lady Noire caught it with the staff and kept the object in balance while bringing it closer. She smiled.

“Woops, I believe this is mine now. Let me offer you two a better gift for this special day!”   


The two boys rushed towards her and Dark Cupid started to shoot arrows in her way once again. But she blocked them by spinning her staff. When MisterBug got closer, she dodged the punch he threw in her way. Not thinking further, she threw her braid at him, making it roll over his waist and dragging him back to her. She proceeded to jump on his head and threw the sticky object at Dark Cupid. It landed on his forehead while she landed on the fountain.

“Wow, I didn’t know I could go Rapunzel mode with my hai-!”

MisterBug dragged her to him with his yo-yo, wrapping her legs in the string. He hovered her. 

“Try running away from me, now. You can kiss goodbye your secret identity!” He said, beaming. 

As he was bringing his hand closer to hers, she knew this was the right time to act. Without a second thought, she grabbed his face with her two hands and kissed him. 

***

Lady Noire let him go after a few seconds, falling back on the sidewalk as MisterBug blinked.

“Huh? Where am I?”

“Cataclysm!”

He shrieked and jumped when he noticed he was overlapping his partner.

“Oh Gosh, Lady Noire, I’m so…”

“There’s no time! Use your yo-yo to throw me on Dark Cupid!”

“What? Are you-”

“JUST DO IT!”   


He didn’t wait longer to proceed, letting his partner fly before she landed on top of Dark Cupid. She put her hand on his strap, making it crumble to ashes before she grabbed the brooch.

“Catch!”

With one hand, he did.

“Thank you for this pleasant gift, my lady!”

He let it fall and stepped on it. The akuma got out and he proceeded to catch it. 

"Bye bye little butterfly. Miraculous MisterBug!" 

As Kim returned to his normal self, wondering what he was doing there, the heroes fistbumped. But soon enough, the earrings beeped. 

"Woops, time to split!" Said Lady Noire. 

"Please, wait! I still have to tell you something…" 

She sighed. 

"Look, about the kiss, I had to break the spell and-" 

"Kiss? What kiss? No, I wanted to say…" 

"Look out, your Miraculous is flashing!" 

"Huh… Yours too!" 

She smiled slightly. 

"We'd better leave before another spell wears off. I don't really want to see you return back into a pumpkin! Please be more careful next time, alright?" 

Lady Noire ran off and as her transformation dropped, she promised herself to never let her partner get corrupted ever again. 

***

Adrien plopped down on his bed, letting out an exasperated growl as he did. 

"This was a  _ complete  _ disaster! I messed up so badly!" He whined. 

"Well, it's true you didn't address her kind thoughts today…" 

"Not helping, Tikki." 

He growled, not moving the slightest. Tikki frowned and flew closer. 

"Don't worry about it. You weren't yourself! I'm sure Lady Noire doesn't hold any grudge against you!" 

"Even so. I let my chance slip away.  _ Again _ !" 

She gave him two tiny pats before flying away. 

"If it can make you feel better, you received many letters in the mail today! I know it's not the same thing as Lady Noire's affections, but maybe you'll feel better if you read nice things people think about you?" 

He sat up. 

"Sure. Why not? Give me one, please." 

Tikki shuffled and brought him a heart-shaped card. Adrien opened it and gasped upon seeing the content. 

"Wait, somebody replied to my poem! But I don't understand, I threw it away!" 

_ Your hair shines in the sunlight and your eyes are deep green _

_ I look at you and wonder what are your thoughts and dreams _

_ Yes, your Valentine I will be, our love is so true _

_ Together for eternity, my heart belongs to you _

He let out a gasp. 

"Wow! What an amazing coincidence! Someone that can write as beautifully as you surely is your soulmate!" Said Tikki. 

"Do you really believe so?" 

"I don't believe so. I  _ know  _ so!" 

He smiled but frowned once more. 

"But it isn't signed… So much for discovering who this person is." 

He got up and looked through his window. As he did, he saw a black cat walking on top of the walls surrounding the house. 

"Tikki… Is there a chance this is from Lady Noire?" 

"You know nothing is impossible!" 

"Then… I'd like to believe it came from her." 

Letting out a dreamy sigh, he slid to the floor, smiling as he thought of her. Tikki sat down on his shoulder, looking up to him in a smile. As long as he was happy, that's all that mattered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one coming up is Kung Food! Now, I have a dilemma. After the next chapter, the next one in line was supposed to be the rewriting of Antibug. But... I have a problem with it because I find complicated to reinvent the storyline. I mean, if we follow this AU's settings, Chloé is supposed to become the evil version of Lady Noire. But then, Marinette isn't really supposed to be disappearing since she didn't have to use her Cataclysm: MisterBug would have to because he used the Lucky Charm to defeat the Invisible. But then, instead of an evil Lady Noire and MisterBug fighting against each other in the wait for a kwami to recharge, it would be two Lady Noires... Also, the uses of cataclysms will be uninteresting and... Do you see where I'm going? I just don't see Antibug fit in a rewriting: of course, the event would still have happened even if it's not in a chapter (you saw previously how some villains didn't get chapters but still got cameos and mentions). 
> 
> So, I'm asking you a question. Do you think I should still try doing Antibug or simply skip it and go to the next villain (Puppeteer)? 
> 
> Once again, thanks for sticking with me and for your appreciation of the chapters!


	9. Kung Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Here is Kung Food (finally!) Hope you'll enjoy it!

“Welcome to my humble home, my name is Marinette.”

As she wanted to prepare for her great-uncle’s visit, Marinette found an app that could help her have the best pronunciation in Chinese. As he came to Paris all the way from China, she had to give him the best impression possible: which was already hard enough because she didn’t speak a word of any of the existing dialects in this country. 

“Yes! I got it!” She beamed after getting a sentence right. 

“Congrats, you got a sentence right. Now, I still don’t understand the purpose of the flowers?” Said her kwami next to her.

“You think they’re not good enough? They need to be absolutely perfect!”

“I didn’t say that. I just don’t get why they’re necessary to any of this?”

“Well, my mother’s uncle is a world-renowned chef with very special tastes. So everything needs to be spot on!”

As Plagg was about to ask another question as he didn’t get any real answer, the bell rang. Marinette gasped and rose up from the couch.

“It’s him! Quick, hide!”

She opened up her vest to let him settle inside it and ran. She tripped, but got back up as she headed for the door. Behind it was her great-uncle.

“Ni hao.” He said.

“Huh… Welcome Marinese, you’re Chinette! No! I meant: welcome to Marinette’s, you’re Chinese. No! That’s not it… Huh… In Mandarin!”

Yet, she stumbled on her words again while handing him the bouquet, but she noticed she wasn’t being clear, so she took out her phone to get on the app to correct herself. It seemed to be too late as he took the bouquet from her hands and started to peel off the petals. She sighed in defeat before she let him come in. Having her phone in hand, she still called Alya. 

***

Saying that this call from Alya was a total surprise was an understatement for Adrien. But after she explained the situation, he couldn’t say no. After all, Marinette was one of the first friends he made since he got into public school: if she needed help, he would be there. And for this thing in particular, he was the perfect fit. It was time to put his knowledge in Chinese at use. 

“It’s very nice of you to help Marinette out like that!” Said Tikki while he was going up the stairs to get in front of her door. 

It was actually the first time he got inside of the building. Sure, he walked into the bakery once, but he didn’t get in the common hall. But her mother, who was the cashier, guided him. 

“Well, what kind of person would I be if I refuse? I know translators can cost a lot and if it’s a family member of hers, I can’t let her pay so she can communicate! Also, it’s not like I get to practice my Chinese a lot outside of my lessons. So, perfect opportunity!”

He invited Tikki to hide inside his jacket before he rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Marinette opened the door and instantly squealed before bringing her hands to her face.

“Hey, Marinette!”

“Ah- Adrien! What do you want? No! Huh, what are you doing here?” She stuttered.

“Alya called me. She said you needed somebody who speaks Chinese, so… Here I am! At your service!” He said, bowing. 

“W-Wow! Really? Oh… Okay! Hum… Where is Alya?”

Her phone beeped and she took it, her eyes widening at the sight of the text message she just received. 

“Okay, never mind… Huh… We should go… Do you mind?” She said, subtly pointing her great-uncle.

“Not at all.”

The short presentations being made, the three of them headed to the car that awaited for them. On the way towards the Grand Paris hotel, which was their destination, Adrien and Cheng Sifu, Master Cheng in English, didn’t stop talking once. Adrien was amazed by the stories he told him about and also thanked him when he complimented how well he was speaking his language.

“Compared to you, I can’t speak French.”

Adrien and Marinette both let out a surprised gasp.

“I thought you didn’t speak French.” Said Adrien.

“Yeah, me too!” Added Marinette. 

“Huh… Real bad. My French is really bad.”

On his side, Adrien heard his classmate let out a nervous chuckle. 

***

The three of them finally arrived at the hotel. Cheng Sifu was invited there to take part of a cooking contest to win the title of “Greatest Chef in the World” as well as one of their recipes being on the menu of the hotel’s restaurant for a whole year. He was quickly welcomed by the mayor and the three of them walked inside the lobby. There, he was greeted by Alec, the host of the show.

“Cheng Sifu, what did you chose to cook for us today?”

Adrien, standing beside him, whispered the translation in his ear.

“I will present… The Celestial Soup!”

“Wow! It’s a great honor! Your Celestial Soup is legendary! And today, we’ll finally be able to taste it!”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Asked Adrien.

“No, thank you Adrien. Talking is useless in the kitchen.”

As Cheng Sifu followed Alec to get prepared for the contest, Marinette slowly walked up to Adrien.

“Thank you for your help, Adrien… Also, I’m sorry that I disturbed you for nothing. But I was convinced that he didn’t speak a word of French!”

“There’s no need to apologise, Marinette. It was great to get to practice my Chinese. With a Sifu, nonetheless!” 

“A… Sifu?” She repeated, confused.

“It means ‘master’. Your great-uncle is a great master!”   


“Really? Wow…”

“Hey, look who it is! My favourite friend: Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette twitched to see Chloé. Of course she would be there. 

“Seriously, does your uncle from China really believe he can win the contest with  _ soup _ ? It’s tacky, only for the elderly. Couldn’t he roll some sushis like everyone else?” 

Adrien jumped in.

“Sushis are made by Japanese people, Chloé. Cheng Sifu is Chinese.” He explained.

“And that doesn’t include the fact that if he was like ‘everyone else’, my uncle wouldn’t be one of the most renowned chefs! His soup is legendary!” Added Marinette. 

“Oh yeah? Well, I hate it.” Said Chloé.

“So what?”

“Oh, you don’t know? I’m one of the judges. So your uncle can do whatever he wants, I’m still not voting for him.”

Marinette’s fists balled up as she got closer to Chloé.

“Oh yeah? Well, he doesn’t need your vote! There are other judges with way better taste than you! Oh, what am I saying? We all know you have no taste, we simply need to look at what you’re wearing!”

Chloé gasped, scandalised. 

“Hey! How dare you speak to me that way!”

She scoffed and started to walk away before she turned back.

“You just made a terrible mistake, Dupain-Cheng! Mark my words!”

Then, as she grunted, she walked off. 

***

With Chloé getting away, Adrien reported his attention to Marinette.

“You defended Cheng Sifu really well, Marinette! He would have been proud if he was here!”

With that, she looked down, her hand finding its place at the back of her neck.

“I… I don’t think so, actually… I don’t think he likes me…” She said, in a sad tone.

Adrien frowned.

“He had just got inside my house and he proceeded to completely destroy the flowers I offered him…” She mumbled.

He smiled slightly. 

“That’s where you’re wrong, Marinette. He isn’t just a simple cook, he is an artist. He told me he was going to use flowers for his soup. He told me he always improvised around something the world sent in his way. The flowers he must have been talking about must be those you offered him when you first greeted him!”

“So… You think that… He likes me?” She said, still baffled.

Adrien put his hands on her shoulders. 

“Of course! He also showed you respect! Well… In his own way.”

With this, Marinette smiled, clearly happy to know about this.

“Come on, let’s get back with the publicck to the contest. I’m sure everything will go just fine.”

“I sure hope so…”

They got back to where the tasting was held. Alec first introduced every member of the jury before they got to evaluating the dishes they were served. After a while, it was finally Cheng Sifu’s turn and Adrien saw that Marinette seemed particularly nervous.

“Hey, everything is going to be fine.” He whispered.

She turned to him with a gasp, then nodded, with a confident look in her eyes. But then, everything seemed to go in slow motion: the jury spitting out the soup off their mouths, then the grades: 3, 0, 0, 1 and 0. Cheng Sifu frowned, got closer and tasted the soup himself. He spit it out just like the other judges.

“I don’t understand! It’s a mistake! Ingredients never put in soup! Someone sabotaged the soup!” He repeated desperately.

Adrien could see Marléna Césaire and Jagged Stone exchange a concerned look before Alec stepped in front of the camera. He also noticed Chloé’s satisfied smirk. Marinette saw it as well.

“I’m sorry, Cheng Sifu, but with all the grades combined, you’ve got yourself a 0,8/10, which never happened until now. Your Celestial soup won’t be part of the menu this year and you won’t be the World’s Greatest Chef!”

Adrien’s eyes widened and he looked at Marinette that seemed really saddened by the previous events. As the cameras cut, Chloé rose up and Adrien could see something falling off her jacket: it looked like a flower petal.

“This isn’t normal. I’m sure that Chloé has something to do with this.” She said, brows furrowed.

He sighed.

“I would like to say otherwise, but knowing Chloé, it wouldn’t be too surprising…”

Marinette ran off to her great-uncle.

“Uncle, I don’t think this is your fault, I’m certain of that actually. I’m sure it was another of Chloé’s schemes and if she did it… It must be because I provoked her and…”

“No. Dishonor is on the Celestial soup. I’ll never be the World’s greatest Chef.” He replied while turning his back to walk away.

“No, Uncle Cheng…” Said Marinette in an attempt to stop him.

“It’s horrible for a Chinese to lose face.”

She sighed and looked down at her feet. He walked towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to be a minimum comfortive. 

“Come on, let’s wait for him downstairs.”

With a nod from her behalf, they started to walk.

***

Waiting for Cheng Sifu to join them in the lobby, they heard shouts.

“Help! There is a supervillain in the hotel!” Said a cameraman while running out.

The next moment, Marinette’s eyes looked up to see an image being showed through some flying food.

“It’s not polite to get out of table without asking Kung Food for permission! Block the exits!”

The next moment, something started to cover every door and window of the hotel. She saw Adrien rushing out to a door, trying to push it, but it was too late. He got on one knee and dipped his finger into the golden substance. He licked it.

“What is it?” She asked, curiously.

“Caramel. Really tasty, but it seems indestructible. We’re stuck here.”

“But… But my uncle is still up there!”

“Don’t worry I… I’ll go get him.” Adrien said before running upstairs.

“Thanks and I… I’ll try to find a way out!” She added.

As she started to head off the lobby, she turned once again her attention towards the broadcasting.

“You will all taste Kung Food’s soup and you will all become my slaves! And Kung Food will be the World’s greatest Chef!”

He let out a laugh and Marinette gasped, finally recognizing her great-uncle. She ran off to a discrete spot and let Plagg fly out of her purse. 

“I never should have provoked Chloé. I got to save my uncle! Plagg, claws out!”

She jumped up and landed face to face with her partner.

“Lady Noire?” He asked.

“MisterBug? Well, seems like we’re both due for dinner!”

“Then let’s head there, shall we, milady?”

“With pleasure!”

They headed towards the elevator and Lady Noire pushed the button to go up. But nothing happened. 

“Oh, come on!” She whined.

“MisterBug, Lady Noire. You’ll both have the privilege to be surprise ingredients in my soup. But first, you’ll taste one of my specialities!”

The elevator's door opened on Jagged Stone. His eyes seemed different and he had a sort-of sword made of seafood.

“Jagged Stone?” Asked Lady Noire.

“Now that’s some fine choice! Maybe you can…”

“Look out!”

The heroes jumped out of the way as the rock star swung his sword’s blade towards them. 

“Not really rock and roll, huh?” Asked Lady Noire.

“Rock is rock, soup is soup. When I’ll get you, I’m turning you into puree.”

Jagged Stone tried to attack again, but the two of them soon established a plan. Lady Noire jumped and got rid of the sword while MisterBug trapped the rockstar inside of a closet. 

“Not bad!” He said while fistbumping his partner. 

“Thank you very much, sir. But let’s hurry before Chloé takes a unpleasant dip.”

“Right, let’s go.”

***

They finally got inside an elevator and sighed as they started to go higher in the building. There was time right now.

“Hey, my lady. Isn’t it great to be together right now? I wonder where we’re headed.”

She smiled slightly.

“Well, for instance, I’d say we’re going up.”

“Huh? Y-Yeah, exactly! Hold on tight because I can take you to Seventh-”

He was cut off by the elevator’s brutal stopping, making them both stumble to the floor.

“Seems like I spoke up too fast.” He grunted.

“Ya think?” She asked while getting back up.

She headed towards the buttons and sighed when nothing happened.

“No more electricity. How do we even get stuck in those kinds of situation?” She asked.

“Maybe it was this spark between us that cut the electricity?” He suggested.

She turned towards him with a frown.

“Are you trying to make  _ connections _ with my fists? Stop bugging me.”

Then, the elevator’s doors opened and the duo saw the mayor waiting for them with a chain of sausages and cheese. 

“Has anybody ever told you it’s impolite to play with your food?” Asked MisterBug.

“Besides, there are way better sausages than those!”

Yet again, another fight started between them. But the mayor’s aim was impeccable as the chain rolled over their ankles, making them fly into a room.

“Welcome to the 36th suite of my palace!”

“We’ll have to act fast or he’ll turn us into pâté meat.”

“I got this, leave it to me!”

“Lady Noire! He protested.

As it usually did when she rushed head first into things, she quickly was at the hypnotized mayor’s feet, her staff being further away from her grasp.

“Hey, wait a second Mr. Bourgeois. You forgot something.

“I did?”

“Yes. Or rather, you forgot someone!”

Throwing his yo-yo, he dragged the mayor towards him. In a quick move, he made him spin like a spinning top and used the sausages chain to bind him. He tightened the knots.

“That should do it!” He said, proudly.

“Wow, you would’ve made a great boy scout, MisterBug!”

“Once a scout, always a scout, right?”

He helped his partner get back on her feet and got to the upper level. There, they were awaited by Alec and Marléna Césaire. 

“Of course, this couldn’t be simple for once.” She grumbled.

While the restaurant’s chef shot them dessert flavored arrows in their way, Lady Noire used her staff to block all of them, stepping in front of her partner protectively.

“Oh oh! Looks like our guests are very resourceful! Let’s see how they’ll go through this next challenge!”

He shot at them wheels of stinky cheese. Stopping one just in front of her face, Lady Noire started to cough. 

“I can’t feel my nose and my eyes anymore!” She complained.

“That’s it! Push him!”

She heard him fight against who she assumed to be Alya’s mother and, putting her full trust on her partner, she started to run towards Alec. Being confused by seeing her running towards him, he didn’t have any time to think about a riposte that she jumped and pushed him towards the direction MisterBug’s voice came from. As her sight started to get back, she witnessed the restaurant’s chef bump into the TV presenter. The wheels of cheese exploded, covering both of the hypnotized slaves to be cover into a blueish cloud. 

“It’s time to give Hawk Moth our bill.”   


“And don’t forget the tip!” 

The both of them finally got on the roof to see Chloé falling towards the boiling liquid. MisterBug jumped and caught her just in time, landing on the other side.

“MisterBug! What took you so long? I’ll tell everyone that-”

“Accidentally” bumping into them, Lady Noire managed to make her partner drop Chloé on the floor.

“Woops.” She said in an innocent tone. 

“No, my mean girl soup will be bland!” Protested Kung Food.

“Cheng Sifu, please. You don’t have to do this!” Said Lady Noire.

“I’m not Cheng Sifu. I’m Kung Food, the World’s greatest Chef! And no one will stop me from cooking this soup!”

“Run, Chloé!” Urged MisterBug.

As she did, the heroes headed straight in the battle. MisterBug got knocked up, but Lady Noire managed to get rid of his weapons, throwing them in opposite directions.

“The akuma must be in his hat! Try to grab it!”

As he did, Kung Food blew some spices he picked from his bag in his way.

“Hey, it’s burning! That’s enough, Lucky charm!”

While the yo-yo turned in the air, Lady Noire watched as Kung Food drew a pizza sword from inside his bag. She gasped, understanding this was where he got all his food weapons. Not waiting for her partner to get his Lucky Charm, she jumped on the sword, running towards the villain and calling out her Cataclysm. As he took a swing, trying to knock her off her feet, she jumped on him, touching the bag with her hand and destroying it. 

“Oh, bummer.” She said. 

The villain grunted as he pushed her off, keeping her under his arm as he got up facing MisterBug.

“Make one more step and she’ll become the main ingredient to my Failed heroine soup!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to.”

As Kung Food managed to block her sight, she had absolutely no idea what was going on. She simply knew that the two were fighting, pizza sword against yo-yo. KungFood was getting closer to her partner and she tried really hard to get out of the villain’s grasp, without being able to. But suddenly, Kung Food lost his balance, falling backwards and Lady Noire finally managed to slip away. While he was down, she hurried up and grabbed the hat before tearing it apart. Then, her partner did his part of the job as she walked towards him.

“Hey, what was your Lucky Charm? I never got to see how you defeated him.”

“Butter.”

“Butter? How did you…”

“I can’t reveal all of my secrets, now, right kittycat?” He asked with a wink.

She rolled her eyes before heading to pick up the hat, giving it back to her great-uncle.

***

Adrien smiled at the sight before his eyes. Marinette and Cheng Sifu cooking together. 

“Cooking really doesn’t need any words.” He whispered.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me! Soup?  _ Again _ ? I told you I don’t like soup!”

The three of them turned their heads over to Chloé that just stormed inside the kitchen.

“Do you really believe the jury will agree to that?” She asked.

“Chloé, didn’t your father excluded you from this said jury?” Asked Adrien with a mocking smirk.

“WHAT? NEVER! I… I quit!” She answered, crossing her arms and turning her head away.

“Okay, then how about you leave Marinette and her uncle alone to work? Let’s see what the real jury will decide.”

Chloé gasped.

“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”

Adrien sighed before turning to them.

“Sorry about that. She shouldn’t bother the two of you anymore.”

“You mean, the three of us.” Said Cheng Sifu.

“Huh? You mean…” Started Marinette.

“Would you like to learn as well, Adrien?”

“Oh! Uh… Sure!”

After all, cooking was all about sharing. With this, he also got to share Cheng Sifu’s ultimate victory and the renaming of the soup with Marinette’s name. At this moment, Adrien was truly happy to get to be apart of this. As he heated the left-over soup he had brought back home, he let Tikki taste it.

“Wow! This truly is good! No wonder Cheng Sifu won!” She gasped in pure delight as she drank some more.

“He totally deserves his win, that’s true. And now, we have the recipe so I can ask the cook to make us some whenever we want. I’d say that ultimately, this was a good day.”

“Yeah, besides… You got to hang out with your friend outside of school, today!”

“Oh my Gosh… You’re right! I’ll rephrase my previous thought. This wasn’t just a good day… It was the best day!”

He yawned.

“But all this food made me sleepy… I guess it’s time to go to bed.”

Adrien quickly brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas as he slipped under his sheets, turning off the lights. Tikki nuzzled his cheek and he smiled.

“Good night, Adrien.”

“Sweet dreams, Tikki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one coming: AntiNoire! Yup, I decided to do Antibug anyway after all. I'm still not sure about how it will turn out to you but heh, the chapter's already written so no turning back now!


	10. AntiNoire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Here it finally is: AntiNoire! This will be the last chapter published here for a while because of finals (my last test is on December 23, kill me please), Christmas, the new year... That kind of stuff. So in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I wish all of you happy holidays (because I'm guessing not everyone here celebrates the exact same things) and a happy 2020!

“Wow, look at Chloé.” Adrien heard behind him.

Ms. Mendeleiev just gave them a bunch of exercises to do on their tablets before the end of the class. Adrien was already half done with them, so he slightly turned his head over to his childhood friend and frowned. She looked like she had not slept in a week.

“Wow, she looks so dead.” He heard Alya whisper behind him

“Maybe she misses her friend Sabrina.” Theorized Marinette.

“True, she didn’t come to school yesterday either…”

As the teacher stopped by their desk to ask them to stop talking, Adrien heard Chloé whine. Looking back to her, he saw her hands brought to her hair, massaging the back of her head with her thumbs.

“What is it, Chloé?” Asked the teacher.

“Someone pulled my hair!” She scoffed.

Ms. Mendeleiev looked to the person behind the blonde with a questioning look.

“It wasn’t me, Madam! I swear!” Mylène tried to explain.

“Yeah, it’s not her! It’s… It’s an invisible being and… extremely vile like… A ghost! Or a unicorn but without the horn!” Claimed Chloé.

As the others started to mock her claims, Adrien frowned. First, Chloé looked like she was half-alive. Second, Sabrina wasn’t present and now… Someone pulled her hair and it wasn’t Mylène? This was suspicious.

“Quiet everyone! Get back to work!” Demanded Ms. Mendeleiev.

The next moment, Chloé protested again as she seemed to be struggling to keep her purse with her.

“Look! It’s happening again!”

Chloé then landed on the ground.

“Chloé, get back to your seat!”

“I can’t! My bag is hitting me! Ah!”

She got rid of it and ran to the back of the classroom. Only there, the styluses started to fly in her way, trying to hit her. Screaming, Chloé ran.

“Chloé, it is forbidden to run inside the classroom! Get back to your seat  _ now _ !”

Looking scared, Chloé still proceeded to walk towards her seat. However, she soon found herself gripping the sunglasses that stood on her head. She once again lost her footing and found herself bending on the teacher’s desk while her hair was being pulled once more.

“Stop it!”

Not being able to take this anymore, Chloé ignored her teacher and ran out of the classroom under the laughs of the rest of her classmates. As she did, Adrien’s tablet was swiped from his grasp as it slided to hit Nino’s.

“Can I please be excused?” Adrien asked, gathering his stuff.

As he got outside the class, he heard Marinette asking the same thing, but ignored it before he entered the bathroom.

***

Marinette pushed the door to the nearest girl’s bathroom and gasped upon seeing what has been done to the cabins. Someone had decorated each one of them with graffitis caricaturing Chloé.

“Wow, someone really is  _ pissed _ at Chloé.” Plagg chuckled.

“Plagg, come on. That’s not funny!”

“Then why are you smiling? Admit it, it is kind of funny.”

Marinette gave in and chuckled.

“Okay, you’re right. It’s a little bit hilarious. I mean, look at those! I wouldn’t have done better myself… But anyway, that’s not the point. Chloé might be… Chloé, but she still needs help.”

As she was about to transform, her cellphone beeped, notifying her that she got a text. She opened it and saw it was an attachment of many pictures of Chloé in unfortunate situations.

It didn’t take long before Marinette finally transformed and met with MisterBug on her way to the Grand Paris hotel.

“Hello, lady cat. It’s a nice day, am I right?” He asked while swinging beside her.

“It’s a lot nicer now that you’re here, kind sir.” She answered with a wink.

They both landed behind the mayor that was just giving an interview in front of the hotel, telling the world how outrageous it was that his daughter was attacked.

“We will take care of it, Mr. Bourgeois.We promise.” Said Lady Noire.

***

The interview ended quickly, the mayor escorting the duo up to his daughter’s bedroom.

“Chloé, sweetie. Some surprise guests came to see you.” He said.

“MisterBug! You came to save me since we’re such good friends! Oh, and Lady Noire too!” She said while jumping on both of them.

Lady Noire grunted while MisterBug laughed awkwardly. 

Soon enough, the heroes checked the whole room, vaguely listening to Mr. Bourgeois’ babbling about how he had to call every tailor in Paris to make brand new clothes for Chloé. In the meantime, Chloé did her best to take pictures of the heroes, snuggling close to MisterBug and trying to get a good selfie with Lady Noire, which failed everytime because the cat-like heroine was  _ not _ in the mood for selfies with Chloé Bourgeois. 

At last, they checked the surveillance footage of the hotel, trying to look for the one attacking Chloé.

“Did you get in trouble with anyone recently?” Asked Lady Noire.

“Me? I don’t have problems with anybody! And that’s normal since everybody loves me!”

“Are you sure about that? Not even with your closest friends?” Added MisterBug while showing up a picture of her and Sabrina.

“You mean Sabrina? No, that’s impossible. She venerates me! I’m her idol.”

Lady Noire sighed, clearly annoyed. MisterBug ignored it and walked to the mayor.

“Please, make sure she stays here under lock and key until we’ve solved this situation. This nemesis might be invisible, but they surely don’t cross walls!” He said.

“I’m sure that because of you, my life will be perfect again!” Squealed Chloé while hugging him once again. 

He gently tried to get out of her grasp, but didn’t until Lady Noire groaned and pulled him by his hand. Not letting go, she walked out of the room, dragging him all the way to the elevator. She only let go of him when the doors closed and sighed.

“What’s the matter, you don’t look so great.” He asked her.

“This girl is…. Rah! She’s hiding something and I can’t stand it!”

“Really? Do I sense a bit of jealousy on your behalf, m’lady?”

She scoffed.

“What are you talking about? No, she just annoys me to the core.”

“Okay, I believe you. Also, I think you’re right when you say she’s hiding something. Let’s ask for informations.”

“Good idea.”

Their first and only interrogation they did was with Chloé’s personal butler. Everything he said gave them just enough knowledge to confirm that this invisible being was indeed Sabrina. Chloé and her had a fight and the blonde refused to even acknowledge the presence of her so-called best friend, referring to her as being “invisible.” So there was it.

“Thank you so much for your help, sir. You gave us purr-ecious informations.”

The butler nodded and MisterBug snickered.

“What?” Asked her partner.

“Purr-ecious? Seriously? I’m starting to think you’re running out of good pun ideas, Noirette.”

“As if you can do better! I, for instance, believe it was a great one.”

“Huh huh, keep telling yourself that. Anyway, about this villain. The best idea I can come up with right now is for us to wait for her to show up.”

“Well, as we can’t really see her, it’s pretty much the only thing we can do. Besides, we’re advantaged: she doesn’t know we’re here!”

Smiling, MisterBug picked up a flower from the nearest bouquet and offered it to his partner. She chuckled before putting it back and walking away. 

***

As they did, Lady Noire suddenly stopped and turned around after feeling her cat ears twitch.

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“The flower. Wasn’t it… MisterBug, look out!”

She jumped in front of him, spinning her staff in front of her as they started to turn. The Invisible threw lamps, flower pots at them. 

“Okay, enough of this! Lucky Charm!”

MisterBug barely had the time to catch and look at it that that his attention was requiered elsewhere.

“You’re looking for me, Sabrina? Well, I’m here! Don’t make me wait for you.”

“Is this a joke? Go away!” Groaned Lady Noire.

Chloé ignored her and went down the stairs to join everyone in the lobby.

“If you stop all this nonsense, maybe I’ll reconsider you as a candidate to be my best friend.”

“You don’t have any friends, Chloé. And you won’t have any!”

A book flew in Chloé’s direction, but MisterBug jumped and pushed her out of the way, the book hitting him in his stomach. 

“You can count on me, I’ll make sure you don’t get any friends! Ever!” Cried the Invisible as she kept throwing stuff.

“You don’t scare me! Everyone one wants to be friends with me!” She claimed.

“THIS IS NOT A GAME!” Screamed Lady Noire before she got knocked over.

Being under the Invisible, she witnessed, powerless, how the ring on her finger started to slide off. Just in time, MisterBug jumped over them, dropping a curtain that covered both of them.

“Lady Noire, grab the brooch on her shirt!” Screamed Chloé.

She rolled her eyes, but used her feet to make the Invisible lose balance. As she did, Lady Noire put her hand on her backpack, which she felt on her back and ripped it. But no akuma came out. The Invisible laughed.

“Nice try, but now, I just need to get rid of this curtain to go back to be unseeable.”

As she did, MisterBug snickered before he swung his yo-yo, making sure it wrapped around the villain’s waist. He then pulled her towards him.

“I’ve seen you enough to catch you. And now, if you don't mind, I’ll just take this.”

He took off the brooch and crushed it under his foot. The akuma got out.

“Bye bye, little butterfly.”

As the magic ladybugs fixed everything, Chloé walked towards Lady Noire.

“I told you the akuma was in her brooch! You should have listened to me, it seems like I do a better job than you anyway…”

That was the last straw. MisterBug could pratically sense how his partner turned red and was about to explode. He couldn’t stop what came next. 

“Excuse me? You think you’re doing a better job than me? Do you realise that all of this happened because of  _ you _ ? I’m not even talking about the akumatization of your friend! First of all, you lied to us! When we asked you if you knew anything, you didn’t say anything! And then… You’re standing in our way when we try to save Sabrina! Do you even realise the danger you put yourself in? This is all very serious and because of you, Hawk Moth almost got my Miraculous today! So no, I didn’t listen to a liar and stop pretending you’re of any help when all you do is bothering us!”

Chloé looked at her with wide eyes before she scoffed.

“What did you just say about me? You know what? I actually thought you were kind of awesome and cool and I looked up to you… But now, it’s over! You don’t deserve my admiration and I’m certain MisterBug deserves a better partner than you!”

Chloé dashed upstairs and Lady Noire sighed before heading back to her partner with a fist rolled up. But MisterBug didn’t fistbumped her.

“You know… You’ve been really harsh.”

“I just told her the truth. I had to make her understand that all of this isn’t child’s play.”

“Even so, there are better ways to do so…”

He sighed.

“Look, we did a great job and we’re both tired. Let’s make sure Sabrina gets back home safely. We’ll talk about this later tonight, okay?”

“Fine.”

***

As the heroes got outside of the hotel, a whole camera crew was there to interview them. 

“Well, what can I say? Lady Noire and I make a great team!” Said MisterBug while scratching the back of his neck.

His earrings beeped and he laughed nervously.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I got to go! Talk to you another ti-”

He was interrupted by a dark laugh erupting from above. Then, what he witnessed left him speechless. Chloé. She had a sort of inverted ladybug suit: basically what he would be wearing if he was a girl, but with reverted colors as the spots were red instead of black. 

“Without me, you never would have been able to defeat the Invisible! And now, I’ll destroy you both!”

“Chloé?” They asked at the same time.

She landed before them.

“No. I’m AntiNoire. I create destruction. Starting with you, Lady Noire!”

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try.”

“Lady Noire. Don’t jump there head first. I’m about to detransform, remember?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll hold her off until you return. Go.”

He nodded.

“Well, would you look at that. Letting go of the only one actually able to rescue her. Without him, you’re nothing and yet, you still want to try.”

“I assure you this isn’t over, AntiNoire.”

He ran off, and Lady Noire smiled.

“Well, looks like you’re stuck with me. Bummer, really. Seeing what you look like, I guess MisterBug is your favorite.”

AntiNoire scoffed and started to swing her own yo-yo.

“I have my eye set on you, Lady Noire. I’ll be the one to create your defeat.”

Lady Noire leaped and landed on the railing, AntiNoire did the same on a street light. They engaged in the fight, with more force everytime a shot was taken.

***

Seconds before his transformation dropped, Adrien barely found a discreet corner to release the transformation. He caught Tikki in his hand before he started to look for food.

“Oh no. I don’t have any food for you…”

“Don’t worry, Adrien. You’ll find something…” Said the kwami in a tired voice.

“I’ll try.”

As he said do, he grabbed his phone, going straight for the livestream.

“MisterBug disappeared! How will Lady Noire be able to do this on her own?”

“This is my fault. Maybe I should not have been so easy-going with Chloé. If I was more clear with her, she wouldn’t have tried to meddle in our business and this would not have happened.”

“Don’t just blame yourself, Adrien. The responsibility is shared, here, with many parties involved. Not just Lady Noire and you.”

“Maybe… Anyway, for now. Lady Noire needs help. There must be something for you to eat inside the hotel.”

Looking for a way inside the barricaded hotel, he tricked the police officers by throwing a rock and slipped inside the building, heading for the kitchen.

“Awesome, cookies. Here.”

“Thank you.”

While Tikki began chewing, Adrien rushed to the nearest balcony to keep an eye on the battle.

“Oh no… This is bad.” He whispered.

Lady Noire was tied to her own staff with AntiNoire’s yo-yo, hanging. AntiNoire giggled as she simply jumped on the staff, like she was simply playing.

“I thought you wanted to destroy me. Why are you toying with me?”

“Because I have all the time in the world to bring your destruction, Lady Noire. I can have fun once in a while.”

“Sure. Because it’s _so_ fun to parodiate heroes like you’re doing!”

“Hey! How dare… You know what? I might reconsider. Team up with me to destroy MisterBug and I’ll set you free.”

“Over my dead body! MisterBug and I are a team. And no matter what you do, you’ll- Woah!”

“Aww, she cares about me!”

“Adrien, focus. Don’t you see she needs help?”

“Sure… But how am I supposed to do that? I can’t transform without you.”

“The suit doesn’t make you a hero, Adrien. Your intelligence does the trick. You don’t need me to be smart and come up with a way to help. You know that.”

“Yeah… I do…”

As AntiNoire started her countdown, Adrien gathered his thoughts and finally found something to help out his lady. 

***

_What was taking him so long?_ By all the movement, she started to feel sick. Suddenly though, it stopped and AntiNoire was gone. Lady Noire tried to unfasten herself, but couldn’t.

“Come on… Come on… I just need to…”

But then, she was pulled back. Surpassing her initial startlement, she tried to look back, but couldn’t.

“MisterBug?”

The stranger brought her back, started to untangle the string of the yo-yo, but didn’t quite finish the job because steps were growing louder. Anyway, it was enough for her to deliver herself. 

“Ugh!”

“Ready for the second round?”

The two girls started to fight again, going up and up until they reached the pool. AntiNoire kept throwing her yo-yo at Lady Noire, but she blocked it with her staff until another yo-yo did.

“Nice yo-yo, but the quality isn’t quite the same as mine.”

“What took you so long?”

“Sorry about that, I had a few problems. Have any idea about where the akuma could be?”

“Hard to tell… Maybe the yo-yo?”

“Hum, I doubt it. It has to be something she already had on herself. Like… Her earrings. Of course!”

“She is a big fan of yours after all.”

“Hey! Enough chit-chat! Let’s get this over with! Anticlysm!”

“Oh, whatever. Lucky Charm!”

MisterBug caught in his hands a basketball. As AntiNoire charged towards them with her giant weapon, he smiled.

“Think fast!”

He threw the ball in her way and, as he thought since she never was good in sports, she dropped the sword. As it crashed on the pool cover, the black aura surrounding the objet broke the glass, making her sink in it. Lady Noire jumped on the occasion to leap and grab her earrings. She put them in one hand.

“Cataclysm.” She said. 

The earrings crumbled, releasing the akuma. MisterBug caught it and called his miraculous cure, bringing everything back to normal. 

“Pound it.” He said at the same time as Lady Noire.

“MisterBug? Lady Noire? What…”

“Chloé. I… I wanted to apologise for what I said to you earlier. It was uncalled for and inappropriate. If I listened to you, the Invisible would have been defeated faster. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.”

She smiled.

“Well, in that case, I’ll reconsider my decision about you.”

“What decision?”

“I think I’ll continue to be your most prestigious fan after all! I knew I was right to admire you and MisterBug.”

“Oh… Huh, well… Cool!”

MisterBug approached them.

“No,  _ you’re _ cool, Chloé. But let me give you some advice. Try to reconcile with Sabrina. I’m sure whatever happened, you can get past that. Also… Maybe you’ll get to learn to be heroic in your own entourage, what do you say?”

“Well, if you’re the one saying so, maybe I should!”

He smiled.

“Well, there’s no more need for a talk, after all.” MisterBug said as the heroes started to get away.

“What can I say? I can see when I’m in the wrong. Chloé might annoy me, but… I know she only wanted to help, even if she doesn’t really know how.”

He nodded but his earrings beeped.

“Alright. See you next time?”

“I’ll be there.”

They looked at each other before they parted ways. 

***

The next day in class, Marinette seated in her usual spot.

“Oh, there goes AntiNoire. Followed by the Invisible. We just need to have Lady Noire and Misterbug.” Said Alya.

Marinette followed the two with her eyes and saw Sabrina hesitated to sit.

“What are you waiting for? Sit down.” Said Chloé after a few seconds.

Sabrina let out a surprised gasp before she did. Chloé smiled slightly.

“Did you see that? She smiled! I guess she’s happy to get back her friend.”

“It’s strange, but yeah. It seems like they’re both happy.”

The girls continued to look over to Chloé and Sabrina’s table for a while.

“Well, I still prefer our kind of friendship over theirs. But if they’re happy, that’s what matters, right?”

“Right.” Answered Marinette in a smile.


End file.
